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Physiotherapy vs Optometry

Hey
Im interested in applying Physio or Optom for uni. I was wondering if anyone here was doing either of these, and what you thought about it?

Which is the best in terms of career proggression, which career would be better 7/8 years down the line?
Im not motivated by the salary, but I would like a career that pays well :rolleyes: , which would be better?


Thanks!
Plt_KVP
Hey
Im interested in applying Physio or Optom for uni. I was wondering if anyone here was doing either of these, and what you thought about it?

Which is the best in terms of career proggression, which career would be better 7/8 years down the line?
Im not motivated by the salary, but I would like a career that pays well :rolleyes: , which would be better?


Thanks!



so you are motivated by pay


why dont you go do some work experience in them and make up your mind..
If money's what drives you then you do better in medicine or law or dentistry. Unless you are too thick for those careers.
Reply 3
Avatar for Plt_KVP
Plt_KVP
OP
Subcutaneous
so you are motivated by pay


why dont you go do some work experience in them and make up your mind..



I have done work exp, its just made me even more confused. and im not that motivated in pay, but its nice to have a good salary. wouldnt you want a good paid job?

as for medicine, im not keen to go to uni for 5/6 years, and i dont have the correct subjects for law..
Reply 4
Avatar for Dnator
Dnator
12
Optometry pays a bit better, but I did hear of some stuff going down about wages , you would have to research it. Physios can find it hard to get a job as there are a lot of them - at least that is what my physio friends tell me
Plt_KVP
I have done work exp, its just made me even more confused. and im not that motivated in pay, but its nice to have a good salary. wouldnt you want a good paid job?

as for medicine, im not keen to go to uni for 5/6 years, and i dont have the correct subjects for law..



Not really, I'd like to have enough to pay the bills, but I'd rather be in a job I love that pays badly than the opposite, nursing isn't the most fantastic of wages and I could have applied for medicine if I wanted too.

are you sure youve done enough work experience if you're asking questions like this? Maybe organise something in a different environment, for example if you were with a community physio, maybe go organise one in a hospital or a sports centre..and go see an optomtrist in an eyeclinic as opposed to a shop
Reply 6
Avatar for djk_99
djk_99
13
They're quite different careers!
Physios are quite hands on, it's quite an active job. You really need to start in an NHS setting, but lots of people move onto private clinics. Salary is pretty average, but you can progress.
Not very informed about optom, but a friend of a friend did it at uni. Think they earn pretty decent money straight off, and think most of them are working for D&A, Specsavers etc now. Not sure, but it might be a bit more repetitive than physio, not seeing as many different conditions?
You really need to do work experience and look into this stuff yourself, there's lot of info on the NHS careers websites. We don't know what kind of person you are and what you'd enjoy!
Reply 7
Avatar for hiky
hiky
Why not speak to some qualified optoms and physios? I am a final year optom student, and although I absolutely loved the course, the employment aspects appear grim. I can't see myself working on the high street everyday for the rest of my life.
hiky
Why not speak to some qualified optoms and physios? I am a final year optom student, and although I absolutely loved the course, the employment aspects appear grim. I can't see myself working on the high street everyday for the rest of my life.

Hope this doesn't come off as unkind or taunting ... but didn't you know that's where the majority of optometry graduates go on to work before starting the degree?
TheSownRose
Hope this doesn't come off as unkind or taunting ... but didn't you know that's where the majority of optometry graduates go on to work before starting the degree?



that sentence makes no sense
Reply 10
Avatar for hiky
hiky
TheSownRose
Hope this doesn't come off as unkind or taunting ... but didn't you know that's where the majority of optometry graduates go on to work before starting the degree?


Sort of. I was hoping that I could find some medically oriented practices, or maybe work as a hospital optom; but there are very few clinical indies left, and hospital optometry is very repetitive.

I didn't know I was going to study optometry until A level results day!
Subcutaneous
that sentence makes no sense

What doesn't make sense? :confused: Did the poster not know that most optometry graduates end up working in high street practice before (s)he started the course?

hiky
Sort of. I was hoping that I could find some medically oriented practices, or maybe work as a hospital optom; but there are very few clinical indies left, and hospital optometry is very repetitive.

I didn't know I was going to study optometry until A level results day!

Hey, me too. :five: Actually, I didn't know until about a week after A-level results day. :biggrin:

Well, I hope you find something that you want to do from it. Where do you study optometry?
Reply 12
Avatar for hiky
hiky
TheSownRose

Where do you study optometry?

Bradford

TheSownRose

Well, I hope you find something that you want to do from it.


Thanks!
hiky
Bradford

Ah right. I've never come across a Bradford optometry student before, or know much about it myself ... so will proceed to ask you what you think of it and how Bradford run their course? :biggrin: When I went through Clearing, I could have gone for ARU or Bradford, but in the end decided to focus on ARU.
Reply 14
Avatar for hiky
hiky
TheSownRose
Ah right. I've never come across a Bradford optometry student before, or know much about it myself ... so will proceed to ask you what you think of it and how Bradford run their course? :biggrin: When I went through Clearing, I could have gone for ARU or Bradford, but in the end decided to focus on ARU.


I love it! I especially enjoyed the final year. The lecturers and supervisors are cool, we have a nice mixture of people on our course, and I am from Bradford, so didn't have to relocate for uni. I don't like the University too much, but our department is great! Our class is huge (~100 + 30 career progressions) but everyone still knows your name. The only thing I can criticise is the lack of help we get looking for pre-reg placement.

How about you? How's ARU? I know a girl that goes there. 2nd year Iraqi, about 5ft7, she wears a headscarf. I met her at the Eye Opener conference in Skegness November 08.
Subcutaneous
that sentence makes no sense


Well it does to everyone else.
I guess the person who left neg rep because I said the sentence made sense to everyone else must be sitting with their head up Sub's ass. I hope it stays nice for them.
Reply 17
Avatar for ophqui
ophqui
im a third year physio, i definitely recommend getting work experience before you start. My dad was the first person to suggest physio for me after i last minute decided medicine wasnt right for me. I wasnt convinced until i spoke to a few and saw how much happier they seemed than the doctors.

I was thinking about optometry the other day for some reason (not thinking about doing it, just randomly thinking about it while i should have been working). [completely uninformed opinion coming up] I imagine theres quite a repetitive element to the actual work, and theres obviously not as much job variety as physio (where you could work in sports, various hospital environments, community, private clinics etc etc), so that might be something to consider. If moneys a concern then i dont think either is the best thing you could choose to be honest. Far better paying careers out there
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