What are some of the specializations within this degree program?

• Pediatric Optometry: Children have special needs when it comes to the care and development of their eyesight. Optometrists who specialize in pediatrics need to be comfortable working with children, from infants to teenagers. 
• Geriatric Optometry: Many people lose their sight as they age, and because people now spend so much time in front of computer screens this trend is likely to grow. Therefore, the elderly are often in need of qualified optometrists who can help them deal with cataracts and other vision issues as they grow older.
• Behavioral Optometry: Behavioral optometry is one of the fastest growing specializations in optometry, because our lifestyles now involve sustained amounts of time reading or watching bright images at close range. Specialists in this area help people change their lifestyles and correct issues that have resulted from too much computer and television time. 
• Low-Vision Therapy: Low vision therapists work with those who are legally blind to help them retain as much sight as possible and live effectively with their limited vision abilities. A one-year clinical residency is typically required for specialists in this area. 
• Neuro Optometry: Optometrists who specialize in neuro optometry deal with sight disorders that are based primarily in the brain. Lack of brain function can directly affect a person's sight, and neuro optometrists help identify and treat these disorders.

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What degree levels are available?

• Certificate: 1 year to complete
• Associate Degree: 2 years to complete
• Bachelor's in Pre-Optometry: 4 years to complete
• Doctor of Optometry: 4 years to complete

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What are the educational and certification requirements?

The road to becoming an optometrist begins with a bachelor's degree. During one's undergraduate course of study, a student must take several semesters of chemistry, including organic chemistry, biology, anatomy, physiology, and a series of high level mathematics courses. Students must then apply to one of twenty accredited optometry schools in the United States. Admissions requirements include an Optometry Admissions Test. (BLS)

Earning a Doctor of Optometry degree requires four years of committed full-time study, as well as a residency lasting at least one year. While in school, students will study optics, physiology, neurology, ocular diseases, ocular pharmacology, and biochemistry. Optometric assistants, who are classified as medical assistants, may be trained on the job or can choose to complete a one-to-two year training program at a community college or technical training school. (BLS)

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What kinds of classes will I be expected to take?

• Human Anatomy: A general human anatomy course will likely be one of the first classes that students of optometry will have to take, and the majority of graduate students will also have taken some sort of anatomy and biology class at the undergraduate level. 
• Neuroanatomy: Anatomy of the brain is an important subject for optometrists, as issues in vision can be related to disorders of the brain, and the perception of what one sees is directly related to neuroanatomy. Many consider neuroanatomy classes to be among the most difficult classes that optometry students have to take. 
• Ophthalmic Optics: Ophthalmic optics courses will introduce students to the science of vision correction through the use of lenses. Students will learn how to diagnose sight problems and how to prescribe the appropriate corrective lenses according to the dimensions. 
• Optics: In optics courses, students study the general science behind light, reflection, refraction, lenses, aberrations, prisms, polarization, dispersion, photometry, interference, diffraction, lasers, and apertures. Such concepts will be studied both in the general sense and particularly in relation to sight. 
• Vision Science: Of course, all optometry courses will explore the science behind vision and sight, but a vision science class will specifically explore the way the eye works, how human vision reacts to light and color, and how it interprets spatial distinctions. 

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What are the on-site training requirements?

While completing their education, optometry students will be expected to participate in some sort of onsite optometry training. It is required to complete some sort of residency in order to earn a practitioner's license. Ophthalmic assistants may be trained completely or partially on-site. 

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What are some other degrees that are related to this program?

• Medical Assistant: Optometric assistants are similar to medical assistants in that they perform routine tasks, help maintain medical records, and generally assist their primary medical practitioner in whatever ways are needed. 
• Healthcare Administration: Healthcare administrators work in many different types of medical settings, including optometry offices, and help manage budgets, schedules, and medical records.
• Gerontology: Because people lose their eyesight with age, gerontologists dedicate a significant amount of time to studying optometry, and optometrists can choose to specialize in gerontology.  
• Public  Health: A degree in public health will introduce students to the many complexities of the global and domestic health care system. Graduates of public health programs are prepared to help educate the public on how best to stay safe and healthy and how to keep others safe and healthy.
• Pharmacy Technician: Pharmacy technicians help pharmacists properly dispense medications to patients, in much the same way that an opthalmic assistant helps optometrists treat their patients. These individuals must study chemistry, medical terminology, and medical record keeping.

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