Career Journal #3

Rachel Twitty
Name of Career: Optometrist
Education or Training required: a 4-year bachelor's program, preferably in a
relevant or related field like biology, chemistry, or physiology. You'll need a
bachelor's degree to apply for optometry programs, which are competitive and
typically take around four years. After completing the program you must meet
national and your state's licensing requirements in order to become a practicing
optometrist.
Responsibilities and Daily activities: Optometrists are the most common source
of vision care in the U.S. health care system. They are responsible for examining
patients, diagnosing eye and vision problems, testing patients' depth and color
perception, and testing patients' ability to coordinate and focus their eyes.
Optometrists also prescribe contact lenses and glasses, treat eye problems like
glaucoma, refer patients to other doctors, and also are often in charge of managing
personnel and office affairs.
Salary Range: the average salary is $103,900 a year with a 27% career outlook.
Sources:
Head of Publication of IU. (2017). Degree requirements: Doctor of Optometry:
Degree programs: Academics: School of Optometry: Indiana university. Retrieved
March 2, 2017, from Indiana University,
http://www.optometry.iu.edu/academics/degrees/doctor-
optometry/requirements.shtml
Study. (2003). Optometrists: Job description & requirements. Retrieved March 2,
2017, from Study.com,
http://study.com/articles/Optometrists_Job_Description_and_Requirements_for_Beco
ming_an_Optometrist.html
Self-Reflection: An optometrist can help with some of the symptoms of the
neurological disorders studied in this chapter. They could help people with diseases
related to the pituitary gland which lies right behind the eyes causing vision to be
hard. I feel this career is very important because it allows people who have less
than perfect vision to be able to achieve perfect vision through assistance. Without
this career, the everyday lives of many people would be a much lower quality. This
could be something I would do because it is a very sought after career that will
never become useless; however I dont particularly like going to the optometrist, so
this may not be the greatest career choice for me.