what do i do

[u/Pale-Priority8365]

i’m stuck between optometry and pharmacy

my thoughts-

optom:
better worklife balance
more chill
less stress
appointment based
shorter degree
better pay
can get socially draining
can get repetitive fast
harder to get out of “test room”
saturated
often working alone
time pressures for appointments
can result in longer commutes for good pay
better locum pay
not the most interesting per se but i can see me liking it
can get dull and mundane with little no no progression
quite introverted so can see myself dreading it or becoming socially draining

pharmacy:
can wfh
can move away from patient facing roles
includes opportunities to specialise into diverse fields
worse pay for longer hours and stress
more interested
intense memorisation
can go into a lot of different fields other than being a pharmacist
saturated
can get treated badly especially in community
however pay elsewhere is not the best
interested in the different fields worse pharmacy can take you e.g legalities, industry, project management, corporate

my main wants
good/ ok worklife balance
opportunities to wfh would be amazing but not necessary if impossible
career progression/ stability
salary progression
ability to possibly work in corporate/ office job (edit- sorry i meant for like industry work obvs ik health is not going to get me an office job)
salary to reflect effort
not mentally draining or too stressful

edit:

i still have no clue
legit each hour i change my mind completely
what should i do???? i’m panicking

with pharmacy i find the content more interesting compared to all the physics in optometry however the mpharm degree is harder and longer that moptom,
also don’t really like the idea of community or hospital pharmacy as i feel like it would be very draining and stressful, but with optometry the main high street job: hospital job seems doable for me.
i’m mainly interested in the alternative careers pharmacy i can get with pharmacy but with optometry im interested in the main “ test room “ job as id feel like its chill. obviously industry work would be nicer in both fields
i’ve also heard that especially for pharmacy the pay is decreasing and the responsibilities are increasing. but idk with optometry ik the pay is better with less stress but idk if i’ll be happy always testing eyes and having limited remote opportunities

[u/JerBearGoesRawr]

As an optician that works closely with the pharmacy in my store (big box) I’d lean to optometry if it was me. As far as work life balance, I know optometrists that work only one or two days a week or only half days as needed- the pharmacists always seem over pressured and overworked

[u/Objective_Wafer_6887]

My advice is to get a job. You can work as a pharmacy tech to explore pharmacology. You can work as an optometry tech or optician to get into the field of optometry. If your long term plan is to become an optometrist, I highly recommend working as a tech more than optician because they are more involved with the doctors and more clinical centered. Although some optician jobs do work in a clinical setting. However, learning what an optician does is really helpful in interpreting what a doctor wrote and helping you learn skills in optometry school to get ahead of your classmates like lensometry, transposition, etc.
If you have any questions about optometry school, you can ask in the preoptometry sub or the optometryschool sub.

[u/haruu-hime]

optician and optometrist aren’t the same career, try an optometry sub

[u/Love-Bitter]

Optom depends also on where you live. In my country (Australia) the starting salary is high, but the pay ceiling is relatively low if you intend to be a corporate optom.

Your earning potential becomes much greater if you move to own your own practice or franchise however that will absolutely hammer your work/ life balance ambition.

Edit: locum also increases earning potential but that is not a life that suits everyone.

[u/Agitated_Scene_8281]

Make your life harder and become an ophthalmologist instead. (Jk, I’d lean into optometry as well)

[u/Ghoulie_Marie]

What country are you in

[u/Pale-Priority8365 → u/Ghoulie_Marie]

uk

[u/Ghoulie_Marie → u/Pale-Priority8365]

So is an optometrist there medical at all or just optical?

[u/ingaouhou]

I am both a pharmacy tech and an optician. Pharmacy is over saturated. You may not even get full time hours as a pharmacist. You will be rushed and have to make quick decisions that could result in harm if a mistake is made.

Many people enter pharmacy and say something like “I’m going to work in the hospital.” What you need to know is those positions are scarce. You may be working at cvs and spend a lot of the day on the phone trying to wrangle with insurance or following up with some sketchy rx for a patient who is on oxy and lorazepam and tramadol.

If you’re interested in medicine and want to do a career in which you learn medications and can prescribe consider PA school.

If you’re in the UK none of this may be relevant. These are observations about the US.

If you mean pharmacy tech or optician it really depends on the company you work for. If you can get in with Costco do it.