EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OPTOMETRY:
I will tell you, without a doubt, now is the worst time in history to go into Optometry. While we've gain some medical treating privileges (and some basic, tiny surgical ones)..........completely by our organization bribing senators with lots of dough, the number of new graduates from a 5-7 new OD schools, is/will kill opportunity. With 14 OD schools, we were already graduating more ODs than needed. With the extra ones, you will be lucky to piece together 3-4 part-time jobs paying $60,000/yr ($45,000/yr after taxes) while trying to pay back $150,000 - $2500,00 worth of school loans. You will be paying $2,000/month just paying back your school loans. For all your hard work, you will be essentially make the salary of a teacher or police officer. All the while you will get burned out from most every job you have (90% will be in a closet in a 'store') while doing 40 refractions per day (America's Best, Walmart, Vision Works, etc.....). You will last 6 months at each place. The owner will not care because you are a dime a dozen. Another OD is just salivating to take your spot.
10-20% of you MIGHT.......might land an associate job with an established OD. He will promise you a partnership in a few years while refusing to put anything in writing, paying you $60,000 because (you're building equity, right). Again he doesn't care. He needs a refractionist because ODs are too stupid to let high school techs refract (while most every OMD has one or 20 refracting techs that pretty much do 90% of an ODs job). It takes a trained monkey to refract. Hell you can teach a tech to do every right up to viewing in the slit lamp.
5% of you might have the balls and money to start their own place or buy an established place. There ARE still some opportunities out there. But for 100 ODs a year, not 2,000 (while probably 100 per year retire or die). Optometry is a job you can do until you're a 120 as long as your arms work. So very few retire. Most just let their little 1,000 sq ft office die away and try to sell their 50 year old equipment while they just shut the door.
What else.............ahhh............In the 15 years I've been an OD, I've seen reimbursement drop on virtually EVERY procedure we do. Some in HALF. While we were getting $75 per exam from some medical and vision plans, many are now dropping to $25-$30. Why............say it together class- SUPPLY AND DEMAND. A insurance plan KNOW's they can pay as little as they want because there are always 1,000's ODs that will take whatever they offer.
The only doctoral health care professions worse than Optometry is Pharmacy (who the hell wants to stand behind the counter at Walgreen's 60 hours a week directing Aunt Edna to the hemorrhoid isle). And Chiropractic......well, they are just glorified massage techs. Like optometry, their organization has paid off enough senators that they are "Doctors" able to suck money from Medicaid and Medicare for "adjustments" that take 1,000 visits.
I've mentioned all the downfalls of Optometry before. Without fail, some people get really mad. They say I'm not a real OD. I'm a loser and that's why I'm disgruntled (actually I started my own office from scratch and make about $140,000/yr and purchased my own building). So it can be done. But I will tell you I worked much harder than the dentist right beside me that started the same time. She is bringing in $200,000 working 4 days per week. Off Fri with 3 day weekends always. Dentistry is the only profession I'd recommend because they have NO competition and still many cash procedures.
So get mad if you want. This is not what you want to hear if you are all gung-ho on going to Optometry school. You will meet some successful optometrist and think, "hey, they don't look all that smart. If they can do it, I can too). But you got to remember, they did it at a much different time. They had $40,000 of school loans. Much less competition (no Walmarts or mail-order glasses and contacts, no other OD to their left and right, $300 contact lenses). We compete with OMDs, each other, opticians, Big corporations, urgent cares, pediatricians, family docs, etc.....). ODs are rarely the first place a person goes with an eye injury.
Take this free advice if you will. Ignore it. Makes no difference to me.
