GP2015:
just as the question implies.. what lies ahead for an optometry student? How can they get to the point of a normal medical doctor? what will it take to make him a hot cake and also as conspicuous as a normal doctor? what can make him as important as a doctor? I've seen good hints given to people on nairaland, please answers.. what what what?
I need more light pls
salary scale, respect etc..
docs and graduates in the house...

evansvenus:
Optometry is a medical course that has itz specialty with treatment of eyes diseases,refracting lens and correcting eye defects through operation,itz a six years course with one year internship making it a cumulative seven years course,youth service exluded
on completion of programe you will be awarded a doctor of optometry(O.D) nt the usual Bsc,making it a break from the norm.
Job opportunities include working in military or para-military organisations,public hospitals or you can go into private practise!

They are in the same league with doctors with a thin difference,while an optometrist have his or her specialty with the eyes,a medical doctor deals with the whole body,it is a nice course,you going to love it.

On the issue with salary scale,they are the same with doctors working in government owned hospitals,though they might be a thin difference due to area of specialization.

Are u satisfied now?not forgetting to add that only few universities offers the course and they are
abia state university(ABSU)
imo state university(IMSU)
university of benin(UNIBEN)

i dnt know if the course is accredited in futo..take care!

GP2015:


can a graduate of optometry perform surgery or will there be another study required to specialize in performing operations?

evansvenus:


you are already in your specialty...yes you can perform surgeries....eye surgeries only!

evansvenus:


you are already in your specialty...yes you can perform surgeries....eye surgeries only!

cahnellven:



No he can't...... Eye surgery is the exclusive reserve of ophthalmologist, and you need a medical degree (MBBS,MBchB,MD,DO) to become one.


Ps: DO as written above means doctor of osteopathy.

evansvenus:


you are already in your specialty...yes you can perform surgeries....eye surgeries only!

originbm:


An optometrist can't perform ocular surgery in Nigeria, though they can in USA.

Mandeyy:
Even in d U.S., d surgery an optometrist performs is a minor surgery. Besides, it's not every country dat recognizes it. For instance, Italy and France (where they are trained by an ophthalmologist as his assistant, hence no formal training). But it's still a good profession if u can't get admission into medicine or dentistry.

originbm:


what dentistry...oga speak of what u know...nobody goes into dentistry as a substitute for optometry in Nigeria. In that Italy and France, they dont have ods or any optometrists for that matter. They have just opticians. The mode of eye care practice is different from that obtainable in other places. Opthalmplogists dont train optometrists anywhere in the world...are they going to teach an optometrist clinical refraction or what? Only a fool will choose dentistry over optometry....am yet to see one person do that...Again, b4 u start ranting surgery, how many ocular surgeries are performed in Nigeria...Non-invasive proceedures are much more higher than the invasive proceedures in ocular care...in case u dont know, the eye is the only part of the body in which u can see nerves and blood vessels performibg diagnosis thereon without the need for cutting into the body...that is d reason that surgery is not as critical in ocular treatment as in other specialties.
pls dont mention optometry as a substitute for failure to get dentistry. only few people actually go for dentistry in Nigeria. 2015 had only 300 people putting for dentistry for jamb in uniben, so its not competitive at all. peace.

evansvenus:


you are already in your specialty...yes you can perform surgeries....eye surgeries only!

evansvenus:


Are u satisfied now?not forgetting to add that only few universities offers the course and they are
abia state university(ABSU)
imo state university(IMSU)
university of benin(UNIBEN)

i dnt know if the course is accredited in futo..take care!

originbm:


what dentistry...oga speak of what u know...nobody goes into dentistry as a substitute for optometry in Nigeria. In that Italy and France, they dont have ods or any optometrists for that matter. They have just opticians. The mode of eye care practice is different from that obtainable in other places. Opthalmplogists dont train optometrists anywhere in the world...are they going to teach an optometrist clinical refraction or what? Only a fool will choose dentistry over optometry....am yet to see one person do that...Again, b4 u start ranting surgery, how many ocular surgeries are performed in Nigeria...Non-invasive proceedures are much more higher than the invasive proceedures in ocular care...in case u dont know, the eye is the only part of the body in which u can see nerves and blood vessels performibg diagnosis thereon without the need for cutting into the body...that is d reason that surgery is not as critical in ocular treatment as in other specialties.
pls dont mention optometry as a substitute for failure to get dentistry. only few people actually go for dentistry in Nigeria. 2015 had only 300 people putting for dentistry for jamb in uniben, so its not competitive at all. peace.

Rihsabmohd:
There are seven schools offering the O.D. (Doctor of Optometry) degree.

Abia State University Uturu, Abia State - also offers MSc and PhD programmes in Clinical Optometry in combination with FNCO
Bayero University, Kano, Kano State
Federal University of Technology Owerri
Imo State University, Owerri, Imo State
Madonna University Okija, Anambra State
University of Benin, Ugbowo, Benin-City, Edo State, Nigeria - also offers MSc programmes in vision science
University of Ilorin, Kwara State

MrEgghead:
Its not competitive and the cut off this year in Uniben is 72 only second to medicine which is 77...And you think Uniben will admit 300 candidates for Dentistry?If you don't know, Dentistry doesn't take more than 25..And your optometry which is more competitive is 60.....It's high time you remove this hatred for BDS from your heart because it's damaging your reputation slowly.

Mandeyy:


A direct entry student of dentistry at University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC) is a graduate of optometry. I know him personally. Optometry is good, but in the Nigeria's context, they're ophthalmologists' technologists. in our dept of ophthalmology here, they're called technologists. But dentistry is a faculty having dental therapists and dental technologists as technologists. just recently in delta state, this surgery was performed by dentists who are consultants in oral and maxillofacial surgery and the bill was footed by the governor. here is the link: https://independent.ng/okowa-restores-hope-to-12-year-old-boy-with-tumour/ http://teemdental.org/about.html http://teemdental.org/services.html it's this same woman that owns this dental clinic at Warri, Dr Etetafia Mabel that led the surgery. stop arguing foolishly. A nairalander once mentioned here that it's a lie to say that dentistry is not lucrative in Nigeria. he said it after he was charged N90,000 for the removal of two teeth in which one was impacted. he also paid N15,000 and N5,000 for x-ray and consultation respectively. he advised newly graduated dentists to form an alliance of two or more dentists to set up a dental clinic that, unknown to people, it's lucrative in Nigeria. he said his dental treatment was done in Ilorin, that the least charge for a dental treatment in the smallest dental clinic among all of them he visited was N7,000, and that the patients were up to 20 in that smallest dental clinic. he further said he visited govt hospital for the surgery and was charged N60,000, but he was afraid he might die since a nerve passed thro the teeth. Hence he needed a safe hand who could do the surgery well to avoid complications, and that was when he visited different private dental clinics in Ilorin to look for d best among them. i have never heard that somebody switched from dentistry to optometry except he failed 2nd MBBS/BDS exam.