Dr. Friedman:
I know you’re interested in becoming an optometrist, and I’m going to give you my honest opinion. The field has become too commercial. If you were to become one, go into what we do here, behavioral optometry, otherwise, choose something else.
Putting things into perspective is an important part of life. The difficulty in choosing a perspective is that you can never choose just one. There are so many views that it becomes complicated. You try to make yourself believe in a particular truth, and then the reality slowly appears in front of you. Your reality. It’s not anyone else’s, but your own. I figure this is why we’re all so unique.
After asking Dr. Friedman why he went into optometry, I tried to figure out what interested me in the field. I LOVE what we do, but could I really do what the majority of optometrists practice? I work with kids, I help them with several activities, but not once do we look at eye charts. I like this, I like the kids, and I like learning about eyes, but I don’t love what the others’ do.
I think that I’d like to teach later on in life. Not children or teenagers, but the pre-professionals. Bright young adults about health care. They say, “be that change you wish to see in the world.” To be honest, what I see now, is impersonal care among the big health care companies…hospitals. I see doctors not paying enough attention to the nurses, physician assistant’s, and technicians. This lack of communication is a big deal. May I remind you that it’s not the doctor you remember when you give birth, but the nurses who are holding your hand all throughout labor. The doctor is only there to bring your baby out, and throughout the 12 hours of contractions you endure, the nurses are there to say, “You’re doing just fine, just keep breathing in and out.”
The way the world has changed is remarkable. Did anyone know that our lives would be centered around working? Why does it feel like that? It’s about creation, creativity, and LIVING. Why does it feel like its become about paperwork. Teachers lack creativity because their schedule is suddenly set around standardized tests. Some are able to conquer this barrier, but I have met few. (I’ve found this among college professors) Doctors are burdened by insurance, privacy issues, and time.
I guess my point is …that I want to teach college students after practicing in the health care field.
It’s what I see myself doing, and if it happens, then I’ll be happy.
