Why does my pharmacy people tell me becoming an optometrist is a bad idea?

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barnabus

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Alot of people (pharmacy related people) have been telling me that optometry is a not the best field to go in?

Personally, I think optometry is a much better field than pharmacy. Bc there's more patient interaction, you have the option of having your own clinic .. you can diagnose treat on the spot ..whereas pharmacy ..you stand there all day checking medication and giving consultations by reading off the label. My pharmacy people tell me ...that their optometrist and the field in general is going to hell. Is there anyone out there that has anything to say about optometry NOT being as bad as everyone says it is ..career outlook, salary, etc. I'm just cut in between the line of both .. hoping if anyone can provide some good advice/pointers.
 
Alot of people (pharmacy related people) have been telling me that optometry is a not the best field to go in?

Personally, I think optometry is a much better field than pharmacy. Bc there's more patient interaction, you have the option of having your own clinic .. you can diagnose treat on the spot ..whereas pharmacy ..you stand there all day checking medication and giving consultations by reading off the label. My pharmacy people tell me ...that their optometrist and the field in general is going to hell. Is there anyone out there that has anything to say about optometry NOT being as bad as everyone says it is ..career outlook, salary, etc. I'm just cut in between the line of both .. hoping if anyone can provide some good advice/pointers.
 
I know a few pharmacists who first started out working at retail pharmacy outlets and now have their own business. They are doing extremely well. I don't know if Optometry is going to hell or not; most likely NOT BUT make sure this is what you want to do for the rest of your life. money is alright but you are not going to become wealthy because $80,000 to $135,000 a year nowadays is NOTHING and only takes you so far. Unless, you own your practice or optical then you can make tons of money but not easy but attainable.
My suggestion, talk to as many optometrist as you can, visit their practice, interact with them and see what it is all about. Don't listen to Optometry schools and other organizations and salary.com - they sugar coat everything.
Good Luck.
 
barnabus said:
Alot of people (pharmacy related people) have been telling me that optometry is a not the best field to go in?

Personally, I think optometry is a much better field than pharmacy. Bc there's more patient interaction, you have the option of having your own clinic .. you can diagnose treat on the spot ..whereas pharmacy ..you stand there all day checking medication and giving consultations by reading off the label. My pharmacy people tell me ...that their optometrist and the field in general is going to hell. Is there anyone out there that has anything to say about optometry NOT being as bad as everyone says it is ..career outlook, salary, etc. I'm just cut in between the line of both .. hoping if anyone can provide some good advice/pointers.
Click to expand...

Now, who are these pharmacy related people ?
 
In my freshman year of college, I was deciding between pharmacy and optometry. So, I took some days to follow the doctors. Personally, I wanted to fall asleep while standing up at my visit to the pharmacy. So, maybe you should go see each field and that would help you decide between the two.
 
fonziefonz said:
"...does my pharmacy people..."??? 😕

I'd worry more about getting into any school with that kind of English.
Click to expand...

Come on, everyone makes typos.

As far as optometry going to hell, since pharmacy went to hell about 10 yrs ago, I guess they would know. I have several Pharm.D friends so I have a lot of respect for the training they receive and I often consult with pharmacists for drug info. But, there are very few private pharms now days, not to mention most of the guys/girls I talk to are not very happy with their jobs. So, some are, but I don't hear it often.

Optometry is not doomed, there are concerns, but those concerns are true across all medical fields. Sometimes people point to chains opticals as what is so bad, but how is a chain worse then working for an HMO. I personally don't like the chains at all, but almost all pharmacists work for chains, and most MD/DOs work for HMO's. Business majors are tell all of us how to practice.

Besides the small chance of chain opticals taking over (very unlikely), the OD profession is not going anywhere. Our scope of practice is doing nothing but expanding, and the new technology is allowing us to make huge advances in medical care and optical goods. I really enjoy the profession and I don't see that changing.
 
I am also torn between Pharmacy and Optometry. Both sound like excellent careers. I am a senior in High School and I need to deside whether I will be attending a pharmacy school or a nursing/pre-optometry school in a few weeks. (possibly URI, NEU or MCPHS for pharmacy)

Any advise or comparisons bewteen the two degree programs would be very much appreciated.
 
I am also torn between Pharmacy and Optometry. Both sound like excellent careers. I am a senior in High School and I need to deside whether I will be attending a pharmacy school or a nursing/pre-optometry school in a few weeks. (possibly URI, NEU or MCPHS for pharmacy)

Any advise or comparisons bewteen the two degree programs would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Actually you need to decide between nursing or pre-pharm/pre-opto. Nursing has totally different pre-reqs than doctoral level professional schools.
 
Observe a few pharmacists and a few optometrists and you'll have your answer. Forget what other people think.
 
The decision is always hard to make.. but do as others have said: observe both fields.

Also, rank your priorities. What are the musts for you? Consider what matters most to you and go with what suits you best.

For example, I value the patient-doctor interaction, the flexible hours, the work environment, and most importantly enhancing the gift of sight.
 
gochi said:
Now, who are these pharmacy related people ?
Click to expand...

I'm currently a pharmacy technician. And two of the pharmacist i've work with have said pharmacy is the more stable field. Even one of them even said his brother is an optometrist who regretted going into the field and wish he did pharmacy instead. On top of that, my normal optometrist also ask why I didn't consider pharmacy? Pharmacist saying it's bad, even optometrist saying it's bad. Does anyone have a good experience to share?
 
.
 
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gochi said:
OD's need to deal with insurance panels so they can accept a broad range of patients thereby allowing them to increase there earnings. But this is all very complicated as there is some sort of discrimination inflicted upon OD's which limits patient base. When you're patient base is reduced, so is your salary etc...Pharmacists on the other hand do not have to deal with this.

No doubt that OD's are primary eye care provider's but Opthamolgist's are always here to do what OD's do plus more. I don't think a profession exists in this day and age which would replicate a pharmacists task.

Another thing, most of an OD's earning is due to product sales such as contact lenses, glasses, frames etc... Now, imagine this- 1000 OD's graduate. Half of them go into Private practice while the other half goes into corporate optometry (wal-mart) Say the p.practitioner's sell frames for $50 while the corporate optometrists sell them for $25. Everything is going as planned until X years later Z number of schools open up pumping out 1000 more graduates. Again, half of the graduates go into p.p while the other half go into corporate optometry. The p.p can no longer sell the frames for $50 as there are MORE corporate stores selling them for half the price. This would cause either the owner of a p.p. to close down or an associate working for a senior doc to have a reduced salary.

With all this said I can confidently say that there is an extreme saturation of OD's nationwide. Most likely, this will increase due to new school's opening up in the next two years or so. Due to this factor, optometry might not sound financially stable.

BUT, it's whatever you make out of the profession. You can succeed but it will take a lot of effort that pharmacist's don't need to exert in order to be successfull.
Click to expand...


Are you serious? There are twelve opto schools in the country but how many pharmacy schools are there. Do your research please. Optometrist who work at Walmart are independent along with Pearle Vision yet most of them still make around 90 grand. Where do you get that there is saturation of optometrists, I love how in your calculations you fail to include the optometrist who will be retiring. Yeah, the initial salary for a pharmacist is more but I guess I can survive making 80 grand. Don't choose a field for making money choose it because you enjoy it. So while all the pharmacists be doing the same thing every single day, I will be busy meeting and interacting with various people. Those people may or may not be enjoyable but you know what everyday will be different which would allow me to go to work every single day. Also, you said optometrists may not be financially stable, you know what if they make 60 grand that still is cool with me because I rather do something I enjoy than do something to make money.
 
hopefulod07 said:
Are you serious? There are twelve opto schools in the country but how many pharmacy schools are there. Do your research please. Optometrist who work at Walmart are independent along with Pearle Vision yet most of them still make around 90 grand. Where do you get that there is saturation of optometrists, I love how in your calculations you fail to include the optometrist who will be retiring. Yeah, the initial salary for a pharmacist is more but I guess I can survive making 80 grand. Don't choose a field for making money choose it because you enjoy it. So while all the pharmacists be doing the same thing every single day, I will be busy meeting and interacting with various people. Those people may or may not be enjoyable but you know what everyday will be different which would allow me to go to work every single day. Also, you said optometrists may not be financially stable, you know what if they make 60 grand that still is cool with me because I rather do something I enjoy than do something to make money.
Click to expand...

Alright.

There is a demand for pharmacist's and I think there will be for a long time, therefore the openings of more pharmacy school will not have a macro scale effect.

Though OD's who work at wal-mart/pearle vision are independent there salary will most likely decline when there are 10 grads available for employment at a much lesser cost.

Most OD's retire very late in there year's so the correlation between retiring OD's and graduating OD's is less than 0.5

Also. you are telling us that you will be satisfied with 60k when you have 200k in debt and have gone through 8 years of school ? If you're fine with 60k as your salary then perhaps you should consider a career which does not involve enormous financial and time investments.
 
eeeek! to answer the initial post.. do as others have replied. Shadow a couple pharmacists and shadow a few optometrists and see which profession is best for you. Make the decision for yourself and not based on the opinons of others on SDN 😉
 
FLCBRUIN84 said:
eeeek! to answer the initial post.. do as others have replied. Shadow a couple pharmacists and shadow a few optometrists and see which profession is best for you. Make the decision for yourself and not based on the opinons of others on SDN 😉
Click to expand...

I definitely agree. But how do you find an optometrist to shadow without any known connections? Do you think your optometrist would let me shadow him/her for a day or two? 😀
 
Call up an optometrist in a corporate setting and ask if you can shadow them.
 
hopefulod07 said:
Are you serious? There are twelve opto schools in the country but how many pharmacy schools are there. Do your research please. Optometrist who work at Walmart are independent along with Pearle Vision yet most of them still make around 90 grand. Where do you get that there is saturation of optometrists, I love how in your calculations you fail to include the optometrist who will be retiring. Yeah, the initial salary for a pharmacist is more but I guess I can survive making 80 grand. Don't choose a field for making money choose it because you enjoy it. So while all the pharmacists be doing the same thing every single day, I will be busy meeting and interacting with various people. Those people may or may not be enjoyable but you know what everyday will be different which would allow me to go to work every single day. Also, you said optometrists may not be financially stable, you know what if they make 60 grand that still is cool with me because I rather do something I enjoy than do something to make money.
Click to expand...

There are more than 12 optometry schools.
 
barnabus said:
I'm currently a pharmacy technician. And two of the pharmacist i've work with have said pharmacy is the more stable field. Even one of them even said his brother is an optometrist who regretted going into the field and wish he did pharmacy instead. On top of that, my normal optometrist also ask why I didn't consider pharmacy? Pharmacist saying it's bad, even optometrist saying it's bad. Does anyone have a good experience to share?
Click to expand...

again, as many others have said i'm sure, a career decision is significant enough to be based not merely on others' opinions on SDN, in fact it shouldn't be based on it all because it's THEIR opinion, not yours. So key thing is just to explore for yourself and think and do what you feel is right with as minimal external pressure/influence as possible. It goes for absolutely any career, not just in health care. At the end of the day, no one remembers what career you're in, but yourself, because you're the one on it. at the end of the day, no one will know how much you enjoy or hate the job, because you're the only one experiencing it. so why not it make it the right choice for yourself, instead of for other ppl?
 
Actually, there are 17 opto schools..
 
barnabus said:
Alot of people (pharmacy related people) have been telling me that optometry is a not the best field to go in?

Personally, I think optometry is a much better field than pharmacy. Bc there's more patient interaction, you have the option of having your own clinic .. you can diagnose treat on the spot ..whereas pharmacy ..you stand there all day checking medication and giving consultations by reading off the label. My pharmacy people tell me ...that their optometrist and the field in general is going to hell. Is there anyone out there that has anything to say about optometry NOT being as bad as everyone says it is ..career outlook, salary, etc. I'm just cut in between the line of both .. hoping if anyone can provide some good advice/pointers.
Click to expand...

There is more to diagnosing a patient and treating the patient "on the spot" that it seems to a pre professional student. On the other hand, there is also a lot more in pharmacy than "standing or sitting" there all day checking medications and giving consultations than it seems.

Also, try to compare a private Opt doctor to a pharmacy professional healthcare setting as opposed to a retail setting. Although pharmacists dont diagnosis, they sure play a huge part in mangaging and treating patients in a healthcare setting. It really isn't fair to compare a private OD to a retail pharmacist.

My advice to you, and I think a good one is dont go in it for the career outlook or salary. Both fields offer exellent opportunities and salaries. It seems like you are already set on being an OD and nothing we say can convince you otherwise. Good luck.
 
statistics of optometrists and pharmacists.

http://stats.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

occupation-employment-median salary-mean salary- mean annual salary
Optometrists -24,220 -$43.77 -$47.38 -$98,550
Pharmacists -239,920 -$45.44 -$44.95 -$93,500

what do you make of these numbers? especially the employment?

What are your opinions on future outlook of optometry?

If you are in it for the money... as my optometrists says "dentisty is the way to go"

Dentists, General -86,110 -$63.53 $67.76- $140,950 -1.7 %
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons -5,320 (5) $79.21- $164,760 -4.0 %
Orthodontists- 5,200 (5)- $85.05 -$176,900- 3.1 %
 
Od_IT said:
statistics of optometrists and pharmacists.

http://stats.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

occupation-employment-median salary-mean salary- mean annual salary
Optometrists -24,220 -$43.77 -$47.38 -$98,550
Pharmacists -239,920 -$45.44 -$44.95 -$93,500

what do you make of these numbers? especially the employment and future outlook?


If you are in it for the money... as my optometrists says "dentisty is the way to go"

Dentists, General -86,110 -$63.53 $67.76- $140,950 -1.7 %
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons -5,320 (5) $79.21- $164,760 -4.0 %
Orthodontists- 5,200 (5)- $85.05 -$176,900- 3.1 %
Click to expand...

According to this data it seems as if there are 10 pharmacists for every OD and 4 dentists for every OD ? Doesn't that mean that the future outlook with respect to saturation will be fairly good relative to the other professions mentioned here ?
 
gochi said:
According to this data it seems as if there are 10 pharmacists for every OD and 4 dentists for every OD ? Doesn't that mean that the future outlook with respect to saturation will be fairly good relative to the other professions mentioned here ?
Click to expand...

that's exactly what i make of it. unless someone has a better reasoning, i am all ears. also, consider the amount the ratio of

dental schools: pharamcy schools: optometry schools

i dont know the exact ratios but i do know that optometry schools is much lower than those of the other fields.
 
gochi said:
According to this data it seems as if there are 10 pharmacists for every OD and 4 dentists for every OD ? Doesn't that mean that the future outlook with respect to saturation will be fairly good relative to the other professions mentioned here ?
Click to expand...

Well.....though it may seem that there are fewer optometrists than dentists, pharmacists, and even physicians.....how many times does the average American go to a optometrist annually, in comparison to either a dentist, pharmacist, or physician?..........I believe it is a fairly small percentage (to my understanding).........

Here's a very interesting article I ran across...(it's in canada.....but I'm pretty sure it applies for the U.S. as well)

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2006/11/c6714.html
 
Jay12 said:
Well.....though it may seem that there are fewer optometrists than dentists, pharmacists, and even physicians.....how many times does the average American go to a optometrist annually, in comparison to either a dentist, pharmacist, or physician?..........I believe it is a fairly small percentage (to my understanding).........

Here's a very interesting article I ran across...(it's in canada.....but I'm pretty sure it applies for the U.S. as well)

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2006/11/c6714.html
Click to expand...

Wow, 38% 😱

I really don't get it.
 
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