SCCO Meeting ~ January 14, 2008 ~ Dr. Munroe ~ Director of Admissions
· New profession: about 100 years old
· CA has most restrictions during practice
· 1940-1970: Contact Lenses, Low Vision, Vision Therapy
· 1971 legal rights for optometrist to utilize diagnostic pharmaceutical agents
· Optometry is now “primary entry point” – can treat some visual or ocular diseases
· Most states can prescribe medicine, not CA
· $60.00/hr for optometrist; $68.00/hr for medical doctors
· Future of optometry good: baby boomers, 3rd party payment plans want full service providers, pre-op and post-op care for Lasik
· Mean income $140,000 for all optometry; graduating optometrist start around $88,000; 2nd highest small business success; optometry = 2nd best career choice
· Doctors of optometry (OD)
· Diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis, and hypertension can be detected with a routine eye examination
· Genetics can figure got if you’ll have glaucoma by examine genes from cheek swab by a very early age
Optometric Education:
· Increase demand for post-graduate Residency Trained Optometrist
· Co-management with
SCCO Info:
· 105 years old, third oldest
· Questions about SCCO prerequisites: email Dr. Munroe ~ jmunroe@scco.edu
· *AP credits will not satisfy prerequisites
· All lover division courses can be taken at community college level
· All coursework must be completed before enrollment at SCCO
· Apps received 588, interviewed 226, students admitted 98
· GPA mean (prereq): 3.37
· Have closed file interview, no info about academics, look at you and how you are professional
· Remember to wear business casual, no book bags, no dangling jewelry, firm/strong handshake, maintain eye contact with everyone, voice projection, match energy of interviewer, but let personality and enthusiasm show through
· Must have C or better in all prereq.
· Academic review: overall GPA, OAT Scores, Essays, Letters of Recommendation
· Must have 3.0 GPA and 300 average above OAT on each subject
· “Tell Um’” Format for interview: say story, make argument, tell them again in summarization; don’t go on and on and off subject
· Questions:
o Why do you want to be an optometrist? Shadowing?
o Your community service?
o Leadership Potential and Civic Mindedness? Optometry is a legislative profession; join SCCO’s facebook group and read articles posted to help with interview questions; communication skills (well written, well spoken); current events
o Opometry’s emerging role in the
o What are demands of graduate school?
o More info: PCONsupersite.com and revoptom.com
o Ask optometrist of AOA journals
o Know about 3 interests optometrist have been fighting for = super good
o Why SCCO? (don’t say weather or close to family)
Why SCCO?
· 4th year clinical rotations
· Recent optometric accreditation by ACOE sited SCCO clinical’s education is unparallel
· Had externships program over 78 US sites,
· See 2,000 patient before graduation
· Accessible Faculty, full-time readily available
· Student’s affair: will always answer calls during business hours
· Convenient housing: 50% lives 1 mile from campus
· White Coat Ceremony, 2 weeks after freshman year
Shadowing:
· Can talk about optometry experience and enthusiasm of being optometrist
· Shadow field of doctors, when talk about interest of field did you go see that specialist
· Shadow and talk about profession, not learn procedures
· Can shadow in 2 days effectively
· Get a
· Shadow SCCO alum
OAT Preparation:
· OAT summer between Junior and Senior year
· Have sections scores of 300 and above
· Prep: MCATs books, Kaplan, www.OATProfessor.com, iTunes Kaplan reading comprehension game
Applications:
· Between junior and senior year
· Request transcripts and LOR’s Early
· Rolling admissions, so apply early and application components can “trickle” in
· Apply early cause it looks good since you’re like an eager beave
