To become an optometrist, you complete college prerequisites (usually a bachelor’s degree), take the Optometry Admission Test (OAT), finish a four-year Doctor of Optometry (OD) program, pass the national board exams in optometry and get a license in your state. Plan on roughly eight years after high school, plus an optional one-year residency if you want to specialize.
What optometrists do
Optometrists are the primary care providers for eyes. The job is a mix of routine exams and real medical judgment.
- Eye exams and prescriptions: testing vision, prescribing glasses and contact lenses, and fitting specialty lenses.
- Medical eye care: detecting and managing conditions like glaucoma, dry eye and eye infections, and spotting signs of diabetes or high blood pressure in the eye.
- Referrals: sending patients to ophthalmologists (medical doctors who perform eye surgery) when needed and co-managing care before and after surgery.
- Settings: private practices, group medical practices, retail optical settings, hospitals, community clinics and the military.
It helps to know the three eye care roles apart: opticians fit and dispense eyewear, optometrists examine and treat eyes, and ophthalmologists go through medical school and residency to do surgery. If surgery is what draws you, read how to become a doctor instead.
The education route
- College: most applicants finish a bachelor’s degree with biology, general and organic chemistry, physics, math, statistics and often microbiology or biochemistry. Requirements differ between programs, so check each one.
- The OAT: a standardized test covering the sciences, physics, reading comprehension and quantitative reasoning.
- Optometry school: four years at a program accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE). Early years focus on optics, anatomy and disease; later years are supervised clinical rotations.
- Residency: optional, typically one year, in areas like pediatrics, ocular disease, vision therapy or low vision.
Exams and the license
Graduates take the National Board of Examiners in Optometry exams, which come in parts covering basic science, patient assessment and management, and clinical skills. Every state then requires a license, and many add their own law exam or extra steps. What optometrists may treat and prescribe also varies from state to state. Check the optometry board in the state where you want to practice.
How to get there from high school
- Take biology, chemistry, physics and math in high school, and treat strong study habits as part of the preparation.
- Shadow an optometrist, ideally in two different settings, so you see both routine exams and medical eye care.
- Choose a college major you can do well in and map out the prerequisites from the first semester. Science-heavy majors are common; see what you can do with a chemistry degree.
- Get patient-facing experience, such as working as an optometric technician or in an optical shop.
- Prepare for the OAT, gather recommendation letters and apply through the centralized optometry school application.
- Finish the OD, pass the national boards, apply for your state license and decide whether a residency fits your goals.
Ways to test the fit
- A part-time job as an optometric assistant or technician shows you the daily work better than anything else.
- Set up informational interviews with an optometrist in private practice and one in a medical setting. Ask about schedules, patient volume and what they wish they had known.
- Compare neighboring paths: pharmacy, dentistry and physician assistant careers share a lot of the same preparation.
Who it suits, and who moves on
Optometry often suits people who like science, enjoy patients but want a more predictable schedule than many medical careers, and are fine doing precise, repeated tasks well. People sometimes leave because of repetitive exam days, high patient volume in some settings or the debt from school. Others move into research, teaching, industry roles or practice ownership.
Coming to optometry later
If you already have a degree, you may only need to fill in prerequisites through post-baccalaureate courses. A health care background, such as working as a technician, scribe or medical assistant, can strengthen your application. Our guides to changing careers and a gap year before professional school cover the planning. For current pay and outlook, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Where a mentor helps
The optometry path rewards people who plan early and keep going through several years of demanding coursework. A mentor helps students explore whether optometry fits, map prerequisites and shadowing, stay accountable through OAT prep and applications, and settle into the first job after school. Mentors are not credentialed career counselors, admissions counselors or licensing experts. See career and education mentoring and mentoring for college students.
Related
- Career paths: guides to dozens of careers
- How to become a dentist
- Careers for people who like science
- The pre-med roadmap
- How to become a physical therapist assistant
- How to become a phlebotomist
Common questions
Is an optometrist a doctor?
Optometrists earn a Doctor of Optometry degree and are doctors of optometry, but they are not medical doctors. Ophthalmologists are the medical doctors who perform eye surgery.
Can you become an optometrist without a bachelor’s degree?
A few programs admit students who have finished prerequisites without a full degree, but most students entering optometry school have a bachelor’s. Check each program’s requirements.
What is the OAT?
The Optometry Admission Test is the standardized entrance exam for optometry school. It covers biology, chemistry, physics, reading and quantitative reasoning.
Do optometrists need a residency?
No. A residency is optional and usually lasts a year. It is common for people who want to focus on areas like pediatrics or ocular disease.
Get started
Weighing optometry or another health career and want help building the plan? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.