Would Optometry have a better outlook than Pharmacy?

[Fai]

I notice that there is a lot of doom and gloom in this section of the forum and let me explain by what I mean by Optometry vs Pharmacy in the outlook aspect.

I always had an interest in eyes and I have no idea what turned me off before (maybe because when I went to an OD's office for an eye checkup an Opthalmologist checked me and we were talking about the medical field) but that discussion is for the Opt forums. I've been re-looking into the optometry field as well as still interested in Pharmacy and I'm wondering which would have a better outlook? Not just for jobs but also job satisfaction?

I ask this because there are many speculations that pharmacists would "no longer be needed" and would one day be replaced by computers and mail order as well as working slave hours. I'm not sure if that is fear mongering or just the unfortunate future. How do you guys feel about this?

Would Optometrists suffer the same fate as Pharmacists in terms of shorter pay and "no longer needed"? I'll also post this in the Opt forums but with the more focused optometry questions. I've read that "things you wished you knew before going to Pharm school" thread and I found it pretty disheartening.

Doesn't help that chain retails are putting pharmacists on their knees to the point where if they don't satisfy them they could be replaced because many others are looking for jobs.

So should I still have hope in the Pharmacy field or would you redirect me to Optometry? The idea that pharmacists could be disposable, replaced by machines and not as good as the job once was with worse working conditions does scare me. I know as an optometrist I would never have to worry about chains and bad working conditions.

Thanks in advance! I really hope I'm just misinformed

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[hye345]

I notice that there is a lot of doom and gloom in this section of the forum and let me explain by what I mean by Optometry vs Pharmacy in the outlook aspect.

I always had an interest in eyes and I have no idea what turned me off before (maybe because when I went to an OD's office for an eye checkup an Opthalmologist checked me and we were talking about the medical field) but that discussion is for the Opt forums. I've been re-looking into the optometry field as well as still interested in Pharmacy and I'm wondering which would have a better outlook? Not just for jobs but also job satisfaction?

I ask this because there are many speculations that pharmacists would "no longer be needed" and would one day be replaced by computers and mail order as well as working slave hours. I'm not sure if that is fear mongering or just the unfortunate future. How do you guys feel about this?

Would Optometrists suffer the same fate as Pharmacists in terms of shorter pay and "no longer needed"? I'll also post this in the Opt forums but with the more focused optometry questions. I've read that "things you wished you knew before going to Pharm school" thread and I found it pretty disheartening.

Doesn't help that chain retails are putting pharmacists on their knees to the point where if they don't satisfy them they could be replaced because many others are looking for jobs.

So should I still have hope in the Pharmacy field or would you redirect me to Optometry? The idea that pharmacists could be disposable, replaced by machines and not as good as the job once was with worse working conditions does scare me. I know as an optometrist I would never have to worry about chains and bad working conditions.

Thanks in advance! I really hope I'm just misinformed

I'm only (almost) a P1, but from browsing both the pharmacy and optometry forums regularly (for some reason, I get a kick out of doom-and-gloom predictions on the optometry forums), here is the gist:

Both optometry and pharmacy suffer from over-supply in major metropolitan areas, as well as states that have (too many) pharmacy and optometry schools in them. The last point is more pertinent to pharmacy, because there are upwards of 130 pharmacy schools, whereas there are "only" about 22 optometry schools (both are rough estimates, anyone is welcome to give more accurate figures). Both also require massive loans for tuition

However, there appear to be several major differences between how each professional is employed:

One, pharmacists are generally hired as regular employers, meaning that they get benefits. This is in contrast to what posters in the optometry forums say: that (commercial) optometrists are generally hired as contractors (though this varies, depending on state law), which means that they receive no benefits. Optometrists who join a private practice probably fair slightly better, though that depends on whether they find a full-time private practice gig, which the optometry forums indicate is rare.

Second, and this stems from the first reason... because optometrists are hired as contractors, they are hired (and paid) by the day, as opposed to hours per week. This means that many probably get hired for only one or two days per week (per commercial establishment). I've also read that many private practices hire optometrists for only several days a week (again, willing to be corrected if I'm wrong). On the other hand, I've read that some pharmacists have had to settle for 32 or even 24 hour weeks. However, I would imagine that it would be less of a headache to be employed by a single company, rather than be contracted by several.

In short, I think that with optometry, there is more variation: you might be straight-up unemployed (I'd imagine this is rare), only find work for a few days a week, or get lucky enough to find full-time employment with a single entity. With pharmacy, it looks like more of a light switch: either you are able to find full-time (or close to full-time) employment, or you just keep looking.

Beating a dead horse here, but again I'm only a P1, so I'm open to be corrected. Just none of the "oh, what a naive student!" crap, that gets real old, real fast.

 

[Parklife]

What's that? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Shrunek!

 

[Transformer]

I suggest you volunteer or shadow an optometrist and a pharmacist and make your own informed decision on which profession you want to pursue.

Regardless of the profession you end up choosing; as long as you work hard&smart, have the proper work experience, interview well, and have the right attitude, you will find the job you desire. good luck