[Share] Why you chose your Uni/Career path?

[qazser]

*Sorry to mods in advance if this is in the wrong sub forum.

Hey all,

I was just wondering what makes you choose your (future/present) uni/career path?

Some general questions:
Your current uni path/job
Why did you choose this path? (Money? Interesting career? Flexible career?)
 
No clue what do study after Y12, maybe this will give us that haven't graduated an insight into your choices.

Thanks so much,
Qazser

Edit:
So far we have:
Pi - Medicine/Surgery
Joseph41 - Linguistics
Euler- Science/Maths
mahler- BioChem
Starlight- Optometry
Wyzard -Theoretical Physicist
Big Al - Engineering

Thanks to Pi, Joseph41, Euler, Mahler, Starlight, Wyzard and Big Al who have shared their experiences

 

[brenden]

This is actually a really cool question, because despite the traditional answers being "love of subject", "job prospects" etc., there are deeper answers to the questions, like... what sequences of events and experiences lead you towards that path? This would be really cool to put on the blog. If anyone feels personally drawn to this question and wants to publish the story I'd be interested in talking to you

[pi]

I think many aspects, but it comes down to what I like. Medicine, for me, ticks these three boxes:
1. I love people: understanding what makes them 'them', their stories, their families; meeting new people all the time is a variety that keeps life forever interesting and unique
2. I love learning: call me a nerd (like anyone on AN can talk!) but I like to learn about things, I like having the freedom to learn things in the depth that I want at the pace that I want, especially things that are dynamic and and can impact on my first passion (ie. people); I also love to teach and pass on my own knowledge (for free (which is why I am here and did things like VCESS), none of this tutoring crap!), and the word "doctor" actually stems from "docere" in Latin which means "to teach" - perfect!
3. I love puzzles: I like being challenged and the diagnostic challenge is the ultimate puzzle in my opinion, as it combines my passions for people and learning

Sure, other factors are important:
- Pay: being paid fairly well to do something I love? awesome, added bonus!
- Breadth of opportunities: there are so many options of where my degree can take me, anything from looking down microscopes, to cutting into people's brains, to delivering babies, to giving life changing advice to someone, to guiding public policy, etc.
- Rewarding: there's nothing more rewarding than having the opportunity to help someone understand what is going on with them

The reason those factors aren't as important.. is because I think they are common to many professions? To me, they're not unique.

How did I end up in this path? A combination of three things: supportive parenting, supportive schooling, and luck. I like lists, so here's another list elaborating:
1. I was fortunate to have parents that realised my interest in academia at a young age, and nudged me in the right direction here and there during my early years. They'd buy me science books (I was actually particularly interested in paleontology at one point haha), I'd be encouraged to watch docos on TV, participate in science competitions, etc. I should note that no one in my family is a doctor, and my parents were both educators. They never pushed me towards medicine, they'd be happy if I was a dentist, engineer, actuary, etc, just as long as I was doing something that I would enjoy, perhaps they knew me better than I knew myself in those early years hahaha.
2. I couldn't hope for a better education, public schooling through and through. I started off in the westside at my local primary school, I didn't learn much academia there, but I learnt a lot about people and how to deal with them (being the only non-Caucasian in my year and never once getting bashed or bullied is a badge I wear proudly!). During my secondary years, my time at both UHS and MHS was perfect. I developed most of my more specific interests (ie. ditching the idea of digging up dinosaurs LOL) during my early years at UHS, they had a fabulous science program there and I was in a group of like-minded individuals in the Accelerated Program. This continued when I ultimately moved to MHS, where I found a perfect cohort where everyone wanted to do well in all sorts of areas of life. I think I thrived in that environment, I enjoyed it thoroughly and it allowed me to really suss out different subjects and career pathways.
3. My luck was three-fold. Firstly, I was lucky to do work experience in a hospital, the Royal Children's. It was an amazing experience, one that probably drew me away from other career paths. What I saw happen there was honestly inspirational, I can't ever remember smiling when I was sick as a kid, and here there were kids who were much sicker than I ever was and the doctors would always leave the room with them smiling. Who wouldn't want to do that every day? (I'm actually not that keen on paediatrics now, but that's a story for another day haha). My second instance of luck came during the UMAT. I don't think I did enough prep but somehow I scraped through and got a half-decent score. That's not to say I guessed my way through it, but perhaps if I put more priority on it and did more study I could have done better (or perhaps not? who knows, it's a funny test!). The last "luck" I had was that I had the worst physics teaching known to human-kind, it completely ruled out, in my mind, the thought of doing anything mathsy with my life (also I'm severely deficient of any talent!) for fear of turning into my physics teachers at age 50. Terrifying prospect. 

Having gone through most of the course now (no more exams left for me!) and spending hours on the wards talking to doctors, I have absolutely no regrets with my path thus far. In fact, I'm excited for every next day, week, month, year. I think this speaks more towards as to how lame I am, but even last night I was thinking "can't wait to read about the MRI findings of cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (fantastic condition, look it up!) and see how it compares to other ischaemic white matter conditions", and I was not disappointed I can't wait for the rigors and study of physician training (if I indeed do choose to travel that path). I can't wait for the next best thing to happen!

My advice to school-leavers who are confused, is to talk to people. You're only 17/18 years old, you're not supposed to make these decisions alone, and you shouldn't make these decisions alone. Talk to your parents, talk to uni students, talk to your teachers (you'd be surprised how awesome teachers can become when they're not talking about the boring VCE), talk to people working where you see yourself possibly working. Send out emails to people in the field to get opinions, the worst that happens is that they don't respond, the best that happens is that they give you life-changing advice (but don't spam people, that's not cool). Try and get work experience, the more the merrier. Attend Open Days, get a feel for what the course will be like, and what the job prospects are like.

Be keen, be enthusiastic, and keep an open mind about what people say to you.

tldr: talk to people, more the merrier!

edit: Damn that became long, I was intending to write a small para, oops... It also seems I like organising things into "threes", perhaps speaking more of my OCD traits than anything else!

[Joseph41]

Yeah, really interesting thread. Kudos.

Current uni path:
Honours in Linguistics, having completed my Bachelor of Arts (Linguistics/International Studies) at the end of last year.

Current job:
Working and volunteering for a number of education organisations, mostly looking at reducing educational inequality.

Preferred career:
Academia (tweed jacket and shit).

Why did you choose this path?
I didn't really. So here's what happened.

For the majority of high school, I was mainly interested in architecture, and then journalism. Later on (Year 11/12), my preference was more toward design. In fact, until the night before preferences were due, my first preference was Industrial Design at RMIT. Do I regret not doing that? No, not at all.

I guess my reasons for moving away from design were varied. I was concerned about job prospects, particularly the idea of needing to move away from home for employment (I didn't really want to leave Australia at this stage). It seemed to me that you had to be right at the very top of your field to do particularly well.

My back was also giving me a lot of grief. Even from my VCD folio in Year 12 (on which, admittedly, I spent an absolute bucket of time), my back was getting to the point that I couldn't see myself completing the next page, let alone folio after folio, or design after design. Really, it was the combination of these two things (employment and my body) that made me think that perhaps design would be better suited as a hobby.

The other contributing factor was that I wasn't really set on design in the first place. I enjoyed it, and VCD was my favourite subject for a long time (perhaps due to my teacher, in hindsight), but it didn't stand head and shoulders above other options. I was interested in education, history (despite my ignorance) and science (despite my lack of science subjects). I also had a vague interest in language. This was nudged on by English Language 1/2 and 3/4, both of which I found intriguing. My Year 10 English teacher actually heavily encouraged me to do Lit instead, but I went with my gut.

And so, yeah. I had my preference set at Industrial Design at RMIT. But the night before they were due, I had a change of heart, and went with Arts/Education at Monash. For some reason, I hadn't really considered Arts that much throughout the year, but as soon as I made the change, I felt (surprisingly) comfortable about it all.

So then out come ATARs and I think "y'know, I might be a scholarship chance, here." No scholarship offer for Arts/Education, which I must admit surprised me a little, for I know a number of people in that course on full scholarships with lower ATARs. But then I stumbled upon the Arts Scholars Program, and I knew instantly that that is what I wanted to do. During those weeks, I started thinking about studying Education, and I realised that I still wasn't sure about it.

How about Linguistics, then? It was actually the last unit I selected for my first semester; in fact, I swapped into it in about Week 2. And then I fell in love, and the rest is history (well, Linguistics, really). Linguistics, for me, was the thing that I didn't know I needed, or desired, until it made itself apparent to me. I really can't see myself doing anything else, now; it's so damn interesting. A huge, huge reason for this love and passion was Kate Burridge. I was extremely lucky to have her lecturing first year Linguistics in 2013.

In the end, my course was absolutely ideal. I got to study a whole bunch of stuff, and it gave me (really crucial) time to work out what I wanted to do. If I ended up doing Education, I think I would have felt as though I needed to use it. I probably would have ended up teaching. That's still a very distinct possibility, but I'm really keen on giving academia a crack.

[brenden]

--

--

Can we blog this at some point??

[pi]

Feel free

[Joseph41]

Can we blog this at some point??

Go for it!

[keltingmeith]

WARNING: I pulled a bangali and this suddenly became very, very long, very unintentionally. Sorry about that. >.>;

This is actually a really interesting question - and I know for some people the answer can be pretty mundane (I know someone who originally enrolled in my current degree because she thought the name sounded funny!), but definitely not in my case!

I actually had a lot of trouble picking a career or uni pathway - for ages I wanted to be a writer, then I thought I might like to act, then I wanted to be a musician, then I wanted to be a teacher, until recently when I decided I wanted to become a scientist. Even now, all of those things are still a part of my life - I don't write much anymore, but I did do imaginative for context back in the day, and it was easily my best scoring SACs. I still occasionally do theatre stuff (mainly just appreciation now as opposed to acting, but I did do musicals in high school), and still bust out the old bass and play some music, and teaching comes through when I tutor/doing work for the AN gods/helping out on the forums here.

The interesting thing is I never liked maths or science - I had always been good at them (I can remember one trig test where I didn't even attempt the last question because I couldn't be bothered and knew that I had already passed - my teacher was really upset with me that day, hah), but nobody had challenged me to be interested in them. Then, something happened in year 10 - it wasn't academic stuff that got in the way, but it still meant that I spoke to the principal and made the decision (against everyone's wishes, who saw my academic scores and thought I would be making another mistake) to stay back a year. Easily the best decision I have made in my life - ever.

When I repeated, because I was smart and got bored with maths class, I asked that they still let me continue on to year 11 GMA. The school was fine with this, because it wasn't uncommon for year 10s to take GMA (in fact, at the time, most of the class were year 10s). When I was being intellectually challenged, I really started to shine, and I trumped the class for the whole semester. At the time, I still didn't like science, but I had made some friends. This is important to the story.

What really sparked change was when I went into second semester - due to the massive subject change for the second half of year 10 (that's just what my school did), I had to move maths classes, and I got the other maths teacher. This woman was spectacular - as a teacher, she was pretty normal. She wasn't the best at teaching content, but she knew her stuff, and managed to leave us with no doubts in our mind. What REALLY made her shine was that she didn't teach maths - we lived it, and we just happened to be in the classroom. It was a very profound moment, and the way she'd talk about maths made me honestly want to explore it more. Before then, I didn't even plan on doing year 12 maths, and I was going to replace it with literature at the end of year 11. That class, however, made me seriously consider taking specialist maths in year 12.

Finally, after that, came subject selections. At the time, my experiences with my maths teacher brought my whole enrolment into question. I suddenly had no idea what to do, and ended up talking to my friend from that science class I mentioned. She said to me, "do chemistry, I don't have any friends for it", so I signed up for chem. At the time, I had no interest in science at all, let alone one of the "harder" sciences - but I had no idea what else I would put there, and at least this way I'd have a friend.

Then came the first two months of year 11 - and holy hell chemistry was my favourite class. Methods was really "eh", nothing like GMA which I had loved, but chemistry easily made up for it. I regularly topped my class - no longer was I just "smart" and got good grades, I got spectacular grades because I was "interested". Funnily enough, people always saw me as the smart person because of this, but I never got any academic awards for whatever reason - I digress, though.

It was after this that my care group teacher told me about something called the "National Youth Science Forum". At this point, I was so in love with chemistry, and the program seemed mildly interesting, so I applied on a whim. I later found out that applying meant hours and hours and hours of work just to be considered, but I endured and eventually got accepted into the program. This is the second best thing I've ever done for my life.

After attending the program (note: if you're currently in year 11 and like science, DO THIS PROGRAM. ty), my eyes were opened. As a part of the application, I had to tell them what uni degree I planned on doing, so I told them something random that I didn't particularly care about. However, attending the program taught me something - scientists are people. It was something I never really though of before - constantly looking at degrees, trying to find something with chemistry but no biology (hadn't done bio since year 7 nor was I tempted to pick it up), and my careers councillor's best job pick was med (lolwut?).

But NYSF had made me realise that I could be a scientist - it wouldn't be an easy path, but my logic was that in this world, there will be scientists out there, and what's stopping me from being one of them if they're going to exist anyway?

So, I looked around a lot of unis, but nothing having a lot of money and realising I'd have to survive off of Centrelink and scholarships (and then realising I didn't have enough drive to work hard enough for a scholarship in about term 4), I decided to look locally. From there, I decided that Monash's travel time wasn't too large to make me go mad, I liked the facilities and their course looked good and like it would take me straight to being a scientist as soon as possible. (fun fact: it does do that!)

Things got interesting from there, because things didn't stop at all. In particular, take home message before I continue:
So far, my story makes it sound like I had my career chosen before year 12 even started and have been following through ever since. This is not true - I had decided where I wanted my career to be (in science and research), but I wasn't even close to deciding what I wanted to do.

Going into uni, I wanted to do research into natural hazards - things like landslides, avalanches, what causes them, etc. I was also taking maths, because I still loved maths (particularly after year 12 specialist), and had decided to pick up physics because I had never done it before. This left one more subject I had to decide on, but the problem was that I didn't like the sound of anything. I could try bio, but I felt very unsure about it, and decided not to. Picking up another maths didn't seem like a good idea at the time. I nearly took philosophy (even asked brenden here about what the subject was like!!), but eventually decided to give chemistry another try. At the time, I was shocking at chemistry, and only managed to get a decent score because I still scored higher than most of my cohort with our rank 1 being absolutely excellent and because the exam was particularly easy that year (anyone seen the 2013 chem exam? Ahhh, it was beautiful). See, year 12 had made me DESPISE the very subject that got me interested in chemistry, so making this decision was hard.

Fast forward to the end of the first semester. I had continued to love maths, even moreso now, and decided that I hated physics and chemistry. So, since I had really enjoyed probability in 3/4 methods (it was my favourite AoS... Which wasn't too hard seeing how much I didn't like methods, but still), I decided to pick up a second year probability unit, because being in my course meant that I could do that. Then, to replace chemistry, I decided to pick up statistics, thinking I could use it to teach further (fun fact: lolnup. It does mean I can tutor the new methods and specialist stuff, though!). This is where bits get tricky, though - after my first semester in geology, a particularly lousy lecturer made me despise the unit, and I no longer wanted to continue on to natural hazards. However, my chemistry lecturers had all been fantastic (anyone here know Chris Thompson?), and I had actually enjoyed chem that semester - even though I was still shockingly bad at most of it, good work during semester and the exams being similar to the practice exams meant I nearly got a HD in it! So, I dropped geo and continued on with chem.

I had, of course, entertained the idea of doing nothing but chemistry subjects - however, I needed to complete a minor for my course, so I decided to minor in chem.

This decision eventually changed this year - I really loved my 3 maths 1 chem semester, and it just cemented my wanting to do maths, but it did make me want to consider chem more, so I applied for a research project in chem to open up my options and give me the ability to major in chemistry. After this year, I decided that I liked lower levels of maths, and like applying those lower levels to my science subjects - however, I didn't have the drive, motivation or intelligence to push further into research, and that was my end goal. However, the project I did for chem taught me the opposite - thanks to my work in maths, I realised that I had developed the logical reasoning, critical thinking and the general ability to do chemistry research, and I flat out just enjoyed chem research a lot more than I enjoyed maths research.

Which brings us to the present day. At the moment, I'm now in the middle of a research project, just finished the research project from last year that I mentioned (including a 20 page thesis. Do not spend 1 week writing something like that, for the love of God), and have another project lined up for when semester begins. At the end of this year, I'll be moving into honours in (hopefully) supramolecular and fluorescent chemistry. In the mean time, I'm also helping out AN with things such as note writing, lecturing, making lectures happen, other odd jobs, etc. and absolutely loving the work!


man that was long plz don't hurt yourself because you're spending ages reading it .__.

[tashhhaaa]

I think many aspects, but it comes down to what I like. Medicine, for me, ticks these three boxes:

relatable on so many levels

pi, ur my inspiration

[dankfrank420]

Did any of you get into a course and regret your decision?

[pi]

Very interesting stories Joseph41 and EulerFan101, thanks for sharing! Hopefully we'll get a few more mammoth posts haha, makes for interesting reading, I'd be particularly interested in someone who does engineering or law

pi, ur my inspiration

Aww thanks! I'm sure you'll be where I am in no time at all

Did any of you get into a course and regret your decision?

Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if I took an interstate med offer instead (had one offer and numerous interviews I didn't go to because VTAC offers came first), but no regrets as such.

My only regret was to not work harder in VCE. In retrospect, could have done a lot better if I did x, y and z. Oh well, don't really care

[mahler004]

Interesting thread. This post is a bit of a mess, sorry. I shouldn't do this late at night.

To save people reading the whole thing - I'm about a month off starting a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Melbourne. I finished Honours this year. I won't know what I'm doing after my PhD until I've finished it, but I've got the vague aspiration of having a research career.

It's a cliche, but I've been interested in science for as long as I remember. Neither of my parents are scientists, both lawyers - in fact, I knew very few scientists growing up (mostly lawyers,) with a handful of exceptions. That said, I've been interested in science (or more broadly, technical topics) for nearly as long as I can remember. The first book I remember owned was a book on space, I had a phase when I was really interested in aviation (still am), and I've been tinkering with the (software side, largely) of computers for a long time. I went to a mediocre rural public school which did little for me, but moved to a private school in the city when I was in year 6. Here, I had a fantastic science teacher, who really started to nurture this interest.

Fast forward to year 10. I still wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to do in year 11/12, and further on in university (note: I did high school in the ACT, the system is quite different to the one in Victoria, it's important to realise that Year 11 and Year 12 are weighted equally, and there are no major final exams at the end of Year 12). I was considering aiming for a more humanities/law pathway, and chose subjects that left this, and a science pathway, open. I also enrolled in an extension university chemistry program (on the advice of my biology teacher). This, plus a fantastic chemistry teacher at school, really ignited a passion for chemistry. I can't really put my finger on why exactly I liked chemistry so much, largely due to the problem-solving, and empirical aspects of it. I still liked biology, too, of course, but at this point I was more interested in the molecular side of things.

At the start of Year 12, I also went on the NYSF. Eulerfan has already written about the program above, but it really reinforced that yes, there are science careers, beyond being an academic, and there are careers in chemistry too. It was the first time I met a group of like-minded nerds, and the first time that I had actual scientists telling me what i was like to be a scientist. It encouraged me - studying science won't lead to unemployment and despair. On top of that, after NYSF I was lucky enough to go to a science camp in Thailand (our travel was organised by the NYSF).

If you're in Year 11 right now, look into applying for this. It's really fantastic.

At the end of Year 12, it was pretty obvious I was going to do a science degree, somewhere. I was looking at a high ATAR (96 was my estimate, it ended up being higher), and I was being encouraged to move interstate for university (read: my parents wanted me out of the house and were willing to pay for it ). I still wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do after my science degree. I always had a vague idea of 'being a scientist', but I still wasn't really sure what that entailed. NYSF did help clarify that yes, it's possible. I thought about doing something else after a science degree - such as law or public policy (both fields which could use my science knowledge). I ended up going to Melbourne University, for a few reasons. The research calibre of the university is very high¹, Melbourne is a lovely city (especially compared to Sydney or Brisbane, the other natural choices), and it's close enough to home (compared to Perth, which is where I almost ended up).

I should add as a side note, that I never felt all that much pressure from my parents in terms of career choices. My father was at one point pushing me into doing a law degree (I still think he hopes I drop out of the PhD and become a judge), but other then the vague desire that I 'do well,' I never felt too much pressure from them through school. The pressure was all self-inflicted.

So in short, at the end of Year 12, I knew that I liked science. I had a vague idea about being a 'scientist', but I still wasn't really sure that that entailed. First year was a bit dull, but at the start of second year, the biochemistry subjects pushed me away from chemistry, and I ended up majoring in chemistry in third year. I did this because I realised that most of the chemistry Honours projects I was interested in were biochemistry-focused anyway (and the same for biochemistry), and the simple fact that the biochemistry department at the undergrad level, at the university is run very well. I can't say the same for the chemistry department.

In the middle of second year, I also applied for, and got into, a undergraduate research program at the university. My research was largely biochemistry focused. This did a few things. First, after the inevitable shock of getting settled in (seriously, your first few months in a research lab for the first time are tough), I realised that I actually really enjoyed research. I could see myself doing this. Second, it really started to improve my abilities in the lab. I'm still a little clumsy, but by the end of it I was much more capable then the average undergraduate, and I started to know my way around the equipment and techniques. This naturally started to lead to an Honours project at the end of third year.

If you're reading this, and you go to university in Melbourne, I strongly recommend applying for UROP. It's not easy to get into (and has gotten harder since I applied, hah,) but it's by far the best experience I had in my degree.

I don't want to go into details on my Honours project (don't want to get doxxed,) but it utilised similar skills that I developed in my UROP year. At the start of Honours, I was really aiming for a PhD spot at the end of the year. I started to get the feeling that research, and a PhD, was something I really wanted to do, and something that I was cut out for. These are tough to get - you need an 85+ average across your Honours and third year to be in for a shot. I knew I had to work, and work hard.

Honours is a tough year, but it's a very rewarding one. It's the first time (barring UROP/other undergraduate research experience) that you actually get to be a scientist. You've got a project, you're expected to design, plan and conduct experiments. You spend long hours in the lab, and you're not just following instructions from a lab manual. There's a sense of freedom and creativity in research that I don't really see in many other careers. Of course, there's plenty of direction and help from others, but it's ultimately you that decides the direction and approaches you take. That's why it's so enjoyable. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish (nobody does,) but I did get some fairly interesting results, and I did write a good thesis (or at least the examiners thought so). Through the year, I was working hard - regularly staying late in the lab. Partially because I wanted to go well, partially because I really liked what I was doing. I went well enough that I got a PhD course and scholarship offer at the end of it, to do more of the same...

I guess the take-home message is that it's okay if you're not 100% sure about what you want to do when you start university, or if you're still juggling between a few plans. One of the great things about the generalist arts/science degrees is that they leave you a lot of room to decide what you like, and what you're good at. It's okay if you're not sure what you want to do when you finish your degree, you'll be working until you're 70, loads of time to figure it out. That said, don't see the degree as an end. It's the means to an end. What that is, is up to you.

(edit: If you're going to post these elsewhere - wouldn't mind a quick edit when I'm more awake. I wouldn't mind removing a few identifying details.)

1. This shouldn't necessarily be a deciding factor (research ability and/or 'prestige'), but if you're aiming for a research career, the institution you do your Honours in (or more specifically, the supervisor you do it under) is important. It's especially important for a PhD.

[qazser]

Thanks to Pi,Joseph41,Euler and Mahler for sharing so much advice!

[Darth_Pepe]

Is there anyone that chose a law career that would like to share their story? I am genuinely curious. I only have 1 lawyer friend who is very happy but everyone else says it didn't pan out to their expectations.

[Starlight]

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted a career in the health sciences because they truly integrate both the Arts and the Science fields. After my bachelor of science degree, my only postgrad preference was the Doctor of Optometry course, so you can imagine the degree of uncertainty and stress I was experiencing when it came to admissions time. Why Optometry though?

1. Multi-disciplinary health profession: As optometrists, you work with GPs, Ophthalmologists, neurologists, orthoptists and many other different health professions to help diagnose, monitor and treat patients for various ocular conditions, that often are the implication of an underlying systemic cause. I could potentially pick up early signs of diabetic retinopathy, a CN3 palsy manifesting as a result of an internal carotid artery occlusion that if not immediately referred as an ocular emergency could result in the death of a patient. Often optometrists are only considered by the wider community for their role in performing refraction to ultimately prescribe glasses, however investigating a patient's ocular health is equally, if not, more important. All of these factors together can lead to Optometry being an incredibly rewarding profession.

2. I see it as a career that can involve a flexible lifestyle. Many opportunities are available to perform locum work, part-time work or full-time work. Relative to medicine, I believe the number of hours you need to practice as an Optometrist to hold down your job is comparatively less, so that opens the door to pursuing an additional career if you so desire. This for me was the downside to pursuing a career in Medicine, the lifestyle is often much more fixed and strict, my stress levels didn't need to be further elevated by late-night or on-call shifts.

3. Although we consider both systemic and ocular conditions, our central focus is on examining the eye. There's only so much I feel I can learn about the body's anatomy until my brain explodes from information overload, another reason why I personally could not pursue a career in Medicine at this point of my life.

4. Took a bunch of vision-related subjects in undergrad: 1- Vision: How the Eye sees the world, 2- Principles of Neuroscience, 3- Neurophysiology: Neurons and Circuits, 4- Sensation, Movement and Complex Functions, 5- Visual Neuroscience. I never would have elected to study these subjects if I didn't have the passion for them. Instead, I was becoming more and more intrigued in undergrad as I learned more about the anatomy, physiology and neuroscience behind the eye and vision overall.

5. As I mentioned above, careers in the health science field are truly an art form in themselves. Communication with your patient is incredibly important and has had a large emphasis in the first year of the Optometry course. We've learned about taking a patient's case history, how terribly wrong things can go if you aren't confident with your patient instructions before performing an eye test, our role in providing advice to patients who are colour-blind- describing the vocational and educational implications it may have for them, how one day we may regrettably have to tell a low-vision patient that they could be blind in the next year. Optometry won't always be all fun and dance, but it's important that we inform the patient of the ocular changes they are experiencing regardless.

6. As well as being intrigued about optometry through undergrad, i'm also a regular patient at an eye clinic because i've got shortsightedness, which isn't all that uncommon. Regardless, it was amazing to have all that frustration about not being able to see in the distance during High School disappear when I was given simple negative power spectacle lenses as a means of correction. I'll always remember that.

Added bonuses:

1. Small course: There are only about 60 students doing the program at UoM. By the end of first year, i've learned everyone's names and talked to everyone at least once. I can see myself working with many of my peers in the future and I would welcome that opportunity.

2. The technology that is used within many optometry practices is truly fascinating. You've got visual fields machines, OCTs, opportunities to take fundus photographs, autorefractors. We've been learning about both the optics and biology about said machines, this to me highlights how dynamic Optometry is in terms of not being restricted to one field of science.

3. In the fourth-year of our course, we'll have the chance to undertake an overseas externship with numerous sites around the world being offered. It could be a great opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and choose a country where you have patients with incredibly rare eye conditions and where the resources to treat them are very limited.


Hope this has given some insight Feel free to PM me any questions you may have.