For the benefit of everyone, can you expand a little bit more on why you feel that way?
Are you working? Are you satisfied with where you are working? Are you satisfied with your salary?
Currently i am working part time in private practice and doing fill in work at two different commercial places. Upon graduation, I was hoping to find a full time position in private practice (not necessarily partnership), but I was only able to find part time. And the pay is ridiculously low (no benefits whatsoever, hourly pay). The reason why I am working at this place is b/c of its working environment. I enjoy going to work there and my boss doesn't tell me what i should or should not do with my patients. Another reason that I could afford to work at my low-paying part time job is b/c my income is secondary compared to my husband's and what I bring home is additional.
The pay in commercial fill-ins is $10 higher/hr, but the work is not as rewarding to me and it is a lot busier. I was able to find these two fill-in commercial places through an OD friend and I probably will continue to fill in when they need me to if I can't find something else better later on.
When I first graduated, I interviewed for a full time position in commercial setting. During the interview, they named out specifically what their expectations were (eg: long commute to different locations, ability to "sell" materials, see at least 4 pts/hr, when i should dilate or should not dilate). I knew then that I can't work in that kind of environment and I probably will end up quitting anyways.
So now the only stable thing that I have going on is the "low-paying" part-time job in private practice. This practice is relatively new and I am sticking it out b/c I enjoy working there and i am also hoping that I can help grow the practice and it would eventually lead to a full-time position.
Listen up prospective students, I consider myself extremely lucky to be married to a wonderful husband who has a stable, good paying job to back me up during this time. We live in an area with high cost of living and with me being in deep debt (~200K), we are postponing buying a home and having kids until I could find something more desirable and long-term. If i didn't have help from my husband, my options would be more limited. I probably would have taken the full time job in commercial setting, out of desperation, so i can pay my student loans and feeling miserable going to work b/c I will be told how I should perform my job.
It's too late for me to realize that optometry school is not worth ~200K. Believe it or not, optometry school is extremely expensive. I am a very frugal person and yet I still owe that much. Most of my friends are in debt in the same ballpark and most, if not all, are working commercial b/c the pay is higher. I feel that if I had owed only ~100K, I can do so much more, such as opening my own private practice and still be able to buy a home and start having kids.