What do you enjoy most about your optometrist career?

What do you enjoy most about being an optometrist? What do you dislike the most? Is it challenging? Are there many opportunities to learn and advance?

What keeps you at your job?

It's not that great. If I could do it over again I would not enter the health field at all.

what specifically do you hate about being an eye doctor? I always had eye doctors who seemed to appear happy about their work.

Janice in Brooklyn, New York said: It's not that great. If I could do it over again I would not enter the health field at all.

Hi Janice,

Can I ask you for advice? What websites or forums are popular among Optometrists when they are involved in a job search? Thank you!

Janice in Brooklyn, New York said: It's not that great. If I could do it over again I would not enter the health field at all.

Hey Janice, I am currently doing an Optometric Residency and I totally agree with you...If I could do it over absoutely no health field....

Discouraged in Big Rapids, Michigan said: Hey Janice, I am currently doing an Optometric Residency and I totally agree with you...If I could do it over absoutely no health field....

janice and discouraged, what about optometry dont you like, seems to me, they're doctors, but have decent hours, no sick people well mostly not, low stress, good pay, i mean it seems an OD is the best kind of doctor to be. i mean i know you dont have to do a residency with dentistry or pharmacy either but who wants to fill perscriptions all day or be cutting up in someones mouth. eyes seem way more interesting than teeth Seems to be the best health care career there is. what kind of non health career gets you licensed and on track to a lifelong career. please repond back both of you, im interested why ur both not happy with it, you must of both put a great deal of effort into 8 years of school. What happened?

I have always been good at math and science, so naturally my parents and teachers steered me in the direction of the medical field. I contemplated being an engineer for a while but realized I didn't want to work in a plant all day. Now, I think I may actually like doing work like that. However, my true passion lies in design so hopefully someday I can apply that toward the optometric field. There is a lot they don't tell you before you become an optometrist. Most optometrist's these days work weekends, at least on Saturdays. Many have 2 or 3 part time jobs to try to make up for one full time. Right now I am on call, which is absoutely ridiculous. Part of the reason I wanted to be an OD is because generally they aren't on call. Thank God I only have this job for less than a year now. I can't wait until it's over. Residencies aren't required, but encouraged. If I had been told up front about the on call business, I would have never even ranked this one. I'm sure that is some of the reason I have a sour taste in my mouth about optometry. I also recently got married and now am away from my husband which makes things even worse. I'll get through it and hopefully change my mind before I decide to change my career.

You say you can't wait till "this job" is over. Do you have a contract or something, I thought when you don't have your own practice, you can come and go as you want, I don't understand why your living, i don't know how far, away from your husband. Did most of your class have to do a few part time jobs and do the on call status. I'm kind of worried.

What is it like when you are in your fourth year of OD school, do you usually have a job lined up right after you graduation or is there some down time. Im curious what you and your friends had for opportunities coming out of graduation such as salary if you wouldn't mind giving a range, that you and other students were offered and how much did location have to do with that, and we're do you think you can find the most jobs. Im really interested in optometry and wish to practice in the albany ny area . Also if you wouldnt mind giving your opinion how much student debt you think is reasonable for getting an OD.
thanks

When I say "this job" I mean my residency. It started July 1st and ends next June 30th. I am at the same optometry school I graduated from. Being at the school for so long made me hate optometry. Once I was out on rotation things got better, until I had another bad experience at my last rotation. Practicing in an academic setting is very different from practicing in the real world. The docs that work at the school become purists and don't come up with resonable management plans becuase they see everything as a learning opprotunity for the students. This has advantages and disadvantages. In real life you can't always have people come back and run a billion tests on them. You would have to charge them and obviously they aren't going to want to pay to have everything under the sun done to them. But that's a whole other story.

The reason I am 2 hours away from my hubby is because when I ranked this residency I was under the impression I would be able to go home every weekend. That's bearable to me since he and I have been doing this routine since I started opt school. Well, come to find out I am on emergency call 24/7. Which technically means I can't even leave the area without notifying someone. It's complete crap! They did not tell me that during my interview, and it is not written anywhere in the residency description. If I had known that would be the case I would have never even ranked the stupid residency. I'm just frustrated.

As for your questions...some of my classmates did have jobs lined up while they were 4th years. The final rotation gets busy with job interviews. I didn't look for any jobs b/c I had matched with a residency program. I'm not sure what people's salarys are but I'm guessing the people who went commercial are making over 80k. There are jobs just about anywhere is just depends on what you want to do. Some of my classmates are having a hard time finding jobs, but they are looking in the same area and don't want move.

I was fortunate enough to not have any student loans (God bless my parents) so I can't answer that question for you.

If you are really interested in optometry as most optometrists are, go for it. I just have so many other interests, I would probably have a hard time liking one single thing. I always said through optometry school that this was going to be my backup to something else. Not sure what that is yet.

I just know they never told me about negative sides of optometry when I was going into it. They don't tell you how your schedule is determined by your patients, so if it's Friday afternoon and you have plans and your last patient is late, you get out of work late. They don't tell you you can't really take off a day at the spur of the moment because you will have patients scheduled that you can't cancel on. Yes, it can be a very fulfilling job, but I believe I am way too type B to really enjoy the rigid schedule.

Don't be discouraged by my opinion. It is just one out of many and most people enjoy being an eye doctor. I am probably just hating it becasue I hate what I'm doing with it right now for my residency and being apart from my husband isn't making it any eaiser.

Hope all of this helps... :o)

Allie in Saratoga Springs, New York said: janice and discouraged, what about optometry dont you like, seems to me, they're doctors, but have decent hours, no sick people well mostly not, low stress, good pay, i mean it seems an OD is the best kind of doctor to be. i mean i know you dont have to do a residency with dentistry or pharmacy either but who wants to fill perscriptions all day or be cutting up in someones mouth. eyes seem way more interesting than teeth Seems to be the best health care career there is. what kind of non health career gets you licensed and on track to a lifelong career. please repond back both of you, im interested why ur both not happy with it, you must of both put a great deal of effort into 8 years of school. What happened?

Basically there are NO JOBS!
Here in California you get a day here and there if you are lucky. Consequently while everything else has gone up, optometrist salaries are way low.
Optometry is a dead profession.

It is hardly a dead profession. Are you an optometrist yourself trying to discourage others from the field to help yourself and you say salaries are way low? well the average American makes around 30K a year, what do optometrists make?

No-I am an EX-optometrist who got out of it because there were no jobs out there. Optometrists probably make about 30k a year here since they cant get work and fight like crazy to get whatever day may be available.
Just trying to tell it like it is.

What a waste of 4 years of graduate school and probably well over 100 grand in debt. Maybe you should move to NY, i know someone who just graduated making low 80K at some commercial store

docante said: Basically there are NO JOBS!
Here in California you get a day here and there if you are lucky. Consequently while everything else has gone up, optometrist salaries are way low.
Optometry is a dead profession.

Allie, you have the same attitude about optometry I did before my 3rd year of opt school. They schmoose you into thinking is such a great profession. They state one of the benefits is you can easily work part time and for many that's your only option because there just aren't enough jobs. They also say you can work 8 to 5 which isn't true either. Patients are getting more demanding and optometrists give in by having late and even Saturday hours. It is the only medical profession besides pharmacy that has a retail setting. Optometry went down hill when it sold out to retail. I didn't go to school for 8 years to have to work on Saturday's. I'm sorry, but I'm just not doing it. My husband is an engineer and went to school for 4 years and is never expected to work on a Saturday. I'm a freaking doctor and it's supposed to be second nature for me. It's CRAP! Another thing is that optometrists in general care too much about their patients and let their patients walk all over them. At most doctors offices if you are late for your appointment you have to reschedule, its just expected. I know of other medical professions that bill you for your appointment if you are even 5 minutes late and still make you reschedule, but I'd put money on it that no optometrist would ever think about doing that. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of becoming an optometrist. I know it can be a very rewarding profession for many, especialy if you have a relative alreday in the business. I'm just not all about it and wishing I would have really researched it and other professions before choosing it.

Which health profession would you chose instead, knowing what you know now?

I would not chose a health profession at all. Possibly something in the realm of science but definetly not health.

Megan in Auckland, New Zealand said: only the money is enjoyable.... If I could do it all again I would have done Law or Finance

Yes, Finance or something with a business focus!!

If you aren't doing Optometry now, what are you doing? I'm curious because I'm an OD but have no desire to be in practice. I'm looking for an industry job, basically so I don't "waste" my degree.

Don't get into optometry. What a waste of 8 years. Low pay lack of decent jobs. U will be stuck in some loser corporate Walmart. Would not recommend it to anybody!

Optometry is a mid level health profession that doesnt even provide a fair return on investment in terms of financial cost of education and time lost in school.Organized optometry sold out to commercial interest long ago and the schools of optometry keep producing more ODs than will ever be needed.In fact,four additional schools are set to open in the next couple of years!In 1990 my first job paid 275 dollars a day,today that same day of work pays what? 325 dollars! Adjusted for inflation thats less today than almost 20 years ago! Become a nurse or pa if you want a career with a better future and more room for professional growth.

I am an optometrist in Australia. I cant speak for what optometry is like in the USA. Like everything there are PROS and CONS to your career.
The pros are that in general, its great money, easy pay, you get to chat to interesting people every day, and patients have respect for you. It is a pretty cruisy job. The future of optometry seems bright. There are more baby boomers ageing which means more eyetests and glasses. You can turn up and do your job and go home and forget about it too, no take home work. As for being on call, I have honestly never heard of this ever for an optometrist. For example, how can you be on call? Mrs smith requires an eye test at the shopping centre at midnight on tuesday? Not going to happen.

The CONS are: potentially less opportunity to own your own business than in the past (although you still get paid very well). The hours also are a common thread on this site. Yes late nights, Saturdays (and even Sundays in large shopping centres) may be common. On the other hand, this may allow some flexibility and you wouldnt have to do every weekend. So you still get some weekends off. I think an employer who didnt acknowledge this isn't worth working for (but I think those are few and far between). Additionally, optometry still has better hours than some other professions, such as pilots, pharmacists, doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, and hospital staff. I am sure there are many more occupations that have poorer hours that optometry. Yes - the hours arent as good as office workers. But a lot of other careers arent too.

Additionally, you can ask people their opinions but you have to live with your decision. I think optometry is a good career, great pay, easy work, interesting customers/patients. On the other hand I dont think I could do this "forever" either (same goes for anything as I like change!) Final advice - RESEARCH your career to the MAX / career tests etc then decide. Good luck.

Here in the United Kingdom Optometry is still a recognised and respected profession - my starting salary 4-5 years ago was £30k approx $55,000, its now £45-50k approx $80k. I also work part-time as a Specialist Optometrist at a Hospital £275/day.

All my clinics are almost always fully booked and sometimes over booked - i refuse to see more patients than those already on the appointment list. If there are no spaces for emergencies they are directed to the GP or A+E. (Note to Australian colleague - we use the term eye examination in the UK, eye test is a dated term which trivialises the consultation)

I have no idea why American Optometrists are being paid so poorly - perhaps it's a sign of their general deteriorating economy?

My dad is an Optometrist and I am thinking of following in his footsteps. His private practice is not the best right now, due to our wonderful economy. However, he also has a practice at a Walmart, which has been bringing in about $175,000 a year and expected to bring in $225,000+ this coming year. He has several friends who also practice here and make $150,000-$250,000+ (give or take a little) and a few friends who practice at Walmart and make high $200's. My dad has never worked on Saturdays until he started his practice at Walmart, but he could choose to have somebody work for him on Saturdays (its just 9-1 though).

Incidentally i might add those figures i quoted were for me working within a UK independent group Optometry practice.

The Optometrist who i completed my training with had two practices, which between them were grossing £650,000 - £700,000.

I have been practicing Optometry for 4 years now, and I often think about a career change. Personally I feel that optometry provides a great income and the hours are pretty good, and can be flexible. Although i feel that the job can be a bit boring, and I am concerned about the future with the ever increasing coorperatlisation of the proffesion. Im thinking about maybe heading back to university and maybe studying a course that is flexible and doesnt have heaps of contact hours, such as commerce.. just incase. The next 5 to 10 years will be very intresting indeed for optometry. Im just hoping the good guys win.

ok guys i know everything about optometry i did a report kk

What does doing a report on Optometry have to do with you knowing everything on the profession? Just curious.

I am an Optometrist and I LOVE MY PROFESSION.

I'm with you OptoBoy, I hope the good guys win and not everyone sells out to being refraction monkeys to big corporates, haha!
I don't think Optometry is boring though, what about all those Retinal Detachments, GCA, Pappilloedema patients who come knocking at your door at 5.30pm on a friday night when you're just about to leave for the day?..Im sure theres a bus that drops them all at my Practice door :)

I sympathise OptoGirl as I feel like i get ALL those type of patients. Even this Friday 5.05pm i had a patient booked in as forced booking who had significantly impaired visual fields which has now been found to be a haemorrhage within the posterior aspect of the brain. And even then our eye clinic recpetion were attempting to book another extra patient on top of that forced booking! (which of course i categorically declined) Needless to say the individual receptionists concerned have been cancelled from my christmas card list :)

But those are the patients that make our job worth doing. Those are the patients you get the greatest satisfaction from helping, and from whom you learn the most :)Sometimes we get too concerned about just trying to get through our clinics and out the door. It doesn't have to be like that!

I think optometry can be a rewarding profession in the right area of the country. What they don't tell you is that if you don't have a connection with someone in your hometown and you live in a suburb you are outta luck. You are going to have to move to the middle of nowhere. period. There is nothing you can do about that. I did a residency and moved back to california expecting green pastures which was a mistake. I subleased a walmart and lost a lot of money doing that and the entire state of california is saturated unless you want to live in a very small town. Now I got out of walmart but am only working 2.5 days a week bringing in less than 2000 a month. Definitely not what I signed up for. I am having to move back to the midwest or to the south in order to find a full time job. You think that going to school for all those years would help you be able to make more and choose where you want to live. Unfortunately, not so. As it stands now I have to defer my loans and I am living with my parents and have 100 bucks in my account and have been out for about two years. These doctors will say oh but my practice is doing this and this well, you either A) went to berkeley optometry school which is much less expensive than a private school, or B)you started your practice 15 years ago and are established. It is hard as nails for the newer grads out here, If you want to help us out offer us a job, not advice.

zubin jiwani in Indore, India said: I am an Optometrist and I LOVE MY PROFESSION.

hello, i live in Yorba Linda and plan on becoming an optometrist. i was wondering what you thought about the profession . what were the pros and cons of this profession? i am about to start college, should i go into this profession?

Hi Roshni,
Well there is everything good about Optometry.
1.Its health care profession so its a very respected one.
2. Optometrists are nicely paid for their work in North America. Optometrists usually have more than avg. salaries.
3. Risk involved in Optometry is pretty less. I mean you dont have to do any invasive processes or surgeries , neither too much of ocular therapeutics to be prescribed.
4. Your working hours are pretty easy. Most of the Optometrists work for about 40 hrs a week which is not too hectic i suppose.
5. Many jobs and thus more options.
6. Optometry involves a lot of mathematics while doing calculations for the refractive power and contact lenses. and at the same time u need to know biology well for you are dealing with human eye.

But for me, I gained interest in Optometry since childhood coz my parents are Optometrists so I used to see them at their clinics working and I was very good at physics and Optics. So I actually chose to be one, and I am really happy to be one finally.. :-)

SO everything I know is POSITIVE about Optometry.

:-)

roshni patoloa in Los Angeles, California said: hello, i live in Yorba Linda and plan on becoming an optometrist. i was wondering what you thought about the profession . what were the pros and cons of this profession? i am about to start college, should i go into this profession?

thank you to much. i greatly appreciate it.

Zubin, I was about to ask you what planet you were on, until I got to the part where your parents are optometrists and realized you probably work with them so didn't have a hard time looking for a job.

I live in America and Optometry is not all it's cracked up to be. The return on investment for Optometry school is definetly not good compared to many 4 year degrees with a much higher earning potential.

It is VERY, VERY, VERY hard to find a full time optometry position. Most optometrists who are new graduates even some that aren't, are forced to work one or two days a week at different offices. Some I know work at up to 4 different places just to try to get 40 hrs a week and we are even talking about residency trained optometrists.

Optometry is such a narrow field, it is hard to branch out if you want a career change unless you have a bachelors in something worthwhile, so keep that in mind.

Also keep in mind, Optometry is really not that well respected. Patients expect to get their glasses and contacts for next to nothing and many of them treat their eyecare like its going to the mall and getting a manicure. Oh wait, they can go to the mall to get their glasses, too. Maybe that's why they don't take it seriously.

Overall, if I had to do it over, there is NO way I would be an optometrst. NO way at all, but that is my fault for not really looking into every aspect of the career. Now I just have to chalk it up to a bunch of wasted time and money and pursue something with more potential.

Not trying to discourage you, but just keep in mind, it is not an easy profession to just walk into a job unless you have a family memeber waiting to give you one.

Hi Opto, thanks for the information.
To tell you more, I am not working with my parents dude. As soon as I graduated I had almost 6-7 job offers from various places including south east asia.
I think there are always two faces of a coin. Its just what you want to see.
Look at the positive side dude.
I know its not the ideal profession, but whatever and however it is I LOVE IT.. I know the scenario of Optometry across U.S is getting worse but its all because of US... We the practitioners should sit together and think about whats going wrong. I know ppl can buy glasses from the pharamcies and convenient stores but who told them to buy it from there? WE...!! I have seen practitioners do that quite a lot. They ask their patients that reading glasses readily available are good for you and then the next time when patient needs new glasses he think, '' oh well, i dont need to go to the Opto and pay his fee, rather i would try a few glasses at the pharmacies and see which one suits me better'' you see...
Yeah I agree some ppl do take their eye exams for granted but you see it because their optometrists dont educate them properly about how important it is to get eyes examined every year.
There will always be some or the other problem but I suggest, see the positive side of life and you will be happy. :-)
I still say I LOVE MY PROFESSION.

If you hate it so much, quit-there is no point in being somewhere you don't like. People can totally tell if you are miserable in your job. If you were my eye dr. I would be outta there as soon as a got a wiff of that bad attitude.

Ha Ha Ha Ha... good one..

With all due respect how can a couple of lay people make any reasoned judgement regarding the pressurised work af an Optometrist.

And no doubt you would be both welcome to switch to another practice.

It would seem the USA public don't have much respect for Optometrists, thankfully the UK public are by and large not of the same opinion.

It does seem pretty rough in America, in NZ you only do 4 years of Optometry with an intermediate year.

I was wondering the opinions of anyone in Australia and New Zealand, how is the workload, salary, where else can you work etc.

I'm in my intermediate this year, and off to Auckland next. I was also wondering if anyone has heard of doing student exchange for Optom, even if only over to Aus.

Thank you

Jamie

P.s i must say im awfully excited at the moment, and am looking forward to contributing to the brain drain and moving to Aus :)

andy in Alameda, California said: I think optometry can be a rewarding profession in the right area of the country. What they don't tell you is that if you don't have a connection with someone in your hometown and you live in a suburb you are outta luck. You are going to have to move to the middle of nowhere. period. There is nothing you can do about that. I did a residency and moved back to california expecting green pastures which was a mistake. I subleased a walmart and lost a lot of money doing that and the entire state of california is saturated unless you want to live in a very small town. Now I got out of walmart but am only working 2.5 days a week bringing in less than 2000 a month. Definitely not what I signed up for. I am having to move back to the midwest or to the south in order to find a full time job. You think that going to school for all those years would help you be able to make more and choose where you want to live. Unfortunately, not so. As it stands now I have to defer my loans and I am living with my parents and have 100 bucks in my account and have been out for about two years. These doctors will say oh but my practice is doing this and this well, you either A) went to berkeley optometry school which is much less expensive than a private school, or B)you started your practice 15 years ago and are established. It is hard as nails for the newer grads out here, If you want to help us out offer us a job, not advice.

Oh my god I am scared now. I am originally from Cali... and want to move back there after I finish optometry school in Florida. I am already in my second year with $100,000 student loan.... I like the profession ........ do you think it is too late to back up? since I already have so much loans? I am just scared not to be able to find a job... what would you guys (the new grads suggest)?

Ive been an optometrist for about 5 years now in Australia...
I have found the money is good, hours are good, heaps of job opportunities...
Although, Im concerned with the future with all the budget chains coming in
such as specslavers. Also the work can be boring and mundane, especially if your doing more than 20 tests a day for a boss who only is intrested in the bottom dollar..thats kind of annoying...

If you want to find out how great the job market is, just go to monster.com,your local newspaper, or google "optometrist jobs" in your area.
If you are lucky enough to see one you can bet there are 50 OD's lined up for it.

NOVAOpto in Fort Lauderdale, Florida said: Oh my god I am scared now. I am originally from Cali... and want to move back there after I finish optometry school in Florida. I am already in my second year with $100,000 student loan.... I like the profession ........ do you think it is too late to back up? since I already have so much loans? I am just scared not to be able to find a job... what would you guys (the new grads suggest)?

Don't freak out just yet. You will find a job, it will likely be part time and in a part of the country you don't really want to live. If you're in bakersfield, cool theres plenty of full time jobs. if you want to be in any urban area....good luck!

anyone & everyone,
i need some advice. =/
I am about to begin college and am registered in fashion management. throughout the end of my senior year of high school & during the summer, i've been researching about optometry. Im really torn between which major I want to take. So if anyone can please help me on deciding if making the huge career difference (from fashion mangement to optometry) is worth trying? Please and thanks.

As the wife of an Optometrist who has his own practice, I would like to know where there is a job board for OD's to go to when thinking of hiring a recent graduate from Fullerton School of Optometry? A link? Some OD's are looking to retire and would love a recent grad to work at the practice and eventually own it..... Assuming of course that the new grad would be taking care of the patients as well as the retiring doctor would. Some OD's are not in it for the money alone and make a good salary by being the best doctor they can be.

Run as far and as fast as you can away from optometry!

I am an Optometrist within the UK and after three years of repetitive boredom day in and out I had no choice but to return to Uni to do a Masters in a completely different subject, just to challenge myself and prevent insanity. Many of my friends who qualified around the same time as myself have done exactly the same. The universities expect decent grades during high school and then push you all the way through uni so at the end of it all you can repeat yourself 22 times a day! Those who teach really do not have a clue about the real world of retail optometry! I became a locum as quickly as possible so that I wasn't trapped within a corporate business who would dictate as and when I could have a day off or could be ill (I tried full time employment for 6 months never to be repeated!). And I have experienced many of the more severe health issues concerning my patients, but my frustration at trying to get the GP (physician) to do something about it was beyond a joke (I hand delivered the letter myself to the GP!), so I have no idea why some people find this so exciting!
I laugh every month when I get all the letters from our governing bodies, they really do have an overbloated sense of the importance of the optometry field, within the UK any health issues are dealt with by ophthalmologists, we are expected to sell glasses and then provide the subsequent refunds!
I looked into practising in the US (as I am originally a US citizen), but this post has confirmed my suspicions and I can't thank you guys enough for saving me from what probably would have been the greatest debt of my life! You guys in the US definitely have far more responsibility than we do over here (24/7 on call! awful!) and yet this is not reflected in your pay. I am of the same opinion as most of you, had I been more clued up on the subject I may have taken an alternative route.