Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Requirements To Become An Optometrist

By Sherry Gross


Optometry is a profession in healthcare, which focuses the health of the eyes, such as the visual system, vision and the vision processing in humans. An optometrist Hoboken is also known as ophthalmic optician is trained to recommend lenses to improve the vision, diagnose and treat several eye diseases. Doctors of optometry are also authorized to perform laser surgeries in some states. For some countries, patients are usually referred to an ophthalmologist, neurologist or general medical practitioners for a continuing investigation or treatment.

If you have love and passion in this field, you better learn first the requirements and the education needed. This profession needs certain skills to treat the patients. Here are some of the important things to consider before becoming an optometrist.

You need to complete your high school program and obtain a diploma. When you are still in high school, you need to concentrate on the certain level of your skills when it comes to the various area of science such as physiology, biology and chemistry. Your best performance in these areas will be your basis if you want to pursue a scientific career.

Commonly, optometry schools are requiring their students to obtain a coursework in mathematics, English, physics, chemistry and biology. You have to discuss with your counselor in determining the courses you will be taking and its requirements for the optometry programs you are applying.

Although not all programs, require you to finish college before enrolling, but you still need to complete three years of a four year program before you will be admitted. You have to complete first your degree in bachelors before obtaining the degree.

You must take the admission test or the OAT. This is a required test when you apply to any accredited schools and if you perform well, you will possibly be accepted. You must read the OAT guide for all the information about the eligibility requirements, testing procedures, test regulations, rules of conduct and then enroll the exam. You can also consider to enroll in an OAT preparatory program to improve your general performance.

You must complete a doctor of optometry course. This will take four years before the completion and must be done in an accredited school. The cost for the course depends on the school you have chosen. You should also consider in completing a postgraduate residency program.

This course allows every optometrist to work in a population that are underprivileged. Through this experience, you will obtain the necessary knowledge and skills that you need for the profession. This is a helpful practice, since you will be working with different kinds of people in a community.

Every state requires each of the practitioners to obtain a license. However, before gaining your license, you need to take several oral or written exams. You also need to take additional tests, if the state requires you to do so. For your license renewal, you should first check the policies in you state to be aware of the requirements. You must renew your license, to keep it active and current.




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