I wanted to be an optometrist when I was only 10 years old. Why? I had some kind of odd fascination with eyeglasses. I was obsessed with getting a pair of my own. In my situation, having perfect eyesight was a distinct disadvantage, so I had to hatch a plan. After lots of squinting in class, I approached my teacher and lied with conviction, complaining that I couldn’t see the blackboard. This symptom got me first to the school nurse and then finally on to an optometrist for an eye exam where I tried my best Mr. Magoo impression to no avail. I would have to wait two more long years until the gods finally smiled on me when, by some miracle, I acquired enough astigmatism to warrant my first bona fide set of prescription eyeglasses! Along with my love of people and wanting to take care of them, subsequent visits to the optometrist and shadowing, I sealed the deal—optometry was now officially what I wanted to do with my life.
I made first contact with the Southern California College of Optometry when I was in 8th grade. My older sister had a newly minted driver’s license and so I coerced her into driving me all the way from our home in La Mirada to Los Angeles, then SCCO’s home. After a master planning effort to plot out our route with a paper map folded in 8 places (I had such a hard time with that map!), we arrived at SCCO where my sister quickly surmised that I didn’t have an appointment with an admissions advisor. She called me a loser, drove me all the way back home and the next day, phoned to help make the requisite appointment.
I entered high school in the late 1960’s (ouch, that hurt) when young females wanted to be anything but what I’d chosen as my newly dedicated pursuit—a science geek. I wore thick horn-rimmed black eyeglass frames (told you I was serious) and hung around chemistry lab after class. This was at a time when women just did not pursue careers in science and being the tomboy that I was, that was fine with me. This trend continued right through into undergrad, attending many classes where I was the only female--bespectacled or not--in the class. At a recent high school reunion, many of my classmates still remember me as the science geek with the blinders on—many envious of my joy and passion for my future profession.
I graduated from SCCO in 1977. Looking back with 35 years of experience as an optometrist, I am awed to know that I chose this wonderful profession way-back-when and with only my juvenile perspective to inform me. In 1977 when I graduated from optometry school, the profession began a series of major changes to its practice scope: securing the rights to use diagnostic drugs (dilating drops), securing the rights to prescribe therapeutic drugs (huge change!), being recognized as physicians by the federal government and treating glaucoma. In some US states, optometry has made even bigger strides into minor surgery, use of lasers, hospital privileges...etc. If I had the opportunity to go back and make another choice and knowing what I do today about health care and my own hardwiring, I’d make the same choice for optometry--nobody loves this profession more than I do. http://www.ketchum.edu/index.php/about/administration-directory
I grew up with optometry and now it’s your turn to inherit its future. That’s what this blog is about—getting you into optometry and I am just the person to help you achieve this goal. We’re going to talk about the admissions process, how to prepare to take the OAT, how to be a competitive applicant, how to prepare to interview, to name a few. We’re going to talk about SCCO, student life and what it’s like to be an optometric intern. I am just the person to help you because I am very persuasive, motivating and I am completely sold on optometry as the best profession in health care and I speak from experience.
Get ready to dialogue. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and please, chime in on discussions. I want to know what I can help you with.
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Anytime I meet an applicant who scores well on the OAT, I ask him or her to write a how-to article on how he or she prepared to take it. This is such an article. You can’t get much better than the top score of 400 in every […]
Peer Advisors are upperclassmen who are trained to assist incoming students make the transition into professional grad school. One of the ways they assist is through the Peer Advisor Blog. Here is an example of such a blog article that may even be helpful to you as a pre-optometry […]
I’m eager to pass along any resource that will help optometry school applicants—especially those that will help students score well on the OAT. This is such a resource. It is written by a young man, though a non-traditional student who despite his confessed anxiety about the process, scored […]
Canadian students planning to attend grad school in the U.S. inherently have additional considerations. Here is how SCCO supports our Canadian students with this process… Pre-Admission Personal Counseling: Connect with SCCO’s Office of Admissions: As a fundamental step in the process, know SCCO’s admissions advisers are eager to […]
My Unofficial Study Guide to the OAT by Colin Leung, SCCO Class of 2022 This study guide was written by a SCCO student from the incoming class Fall 2018 who successfully took the OAT. Colin calls it his “Unofficial Guide to the OAT.” In it, he reports both […]
SCCO invests itself in its students’ success! As incoming students go through the matriculation process, not only do admissions advisers help with the process but also support services offered through the Office of Student Affairs helps every student make the transition into professional grad school a successful one… SCCO’s […]
Eryn Kraning, Director of Admissions, SCCO
Jane Ann Munroe, OD, Assistant Dean of Admissions, SCCO