Current Optometrists: Mode of Practice

[Augen]

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Hello,

I am a student at the Michigan College of Optometry and am writing a paper about modes of practice and financing education.

I thought posting some questions on here would be educational to others as well, discussing various aspects.

Feel free to answer any of the questions, If any doctors would be willing to be an interviewee for my paper, could you please Private Message me with information that you might not want posted on here (Name and Town). I am interested in practicing outside of the state, and since it is hard to travel while busy at school, this site seemed like a good place to find an optometrist from another area. I greatly appreciate anyone who helps.

Here is a list of questions, thanks to anyone who contributes!

1) How did you decide (what factors) on which town/city to practice in?

2) How did you decide (what factors) on the specific office location (downtown/outskirts/etc.)?

3) Advantages/Disadvantages of Location:

4) How did the community and location impact your mode of practice and lifestyle (compared to what you expected, etc.)?

5) How did you finance your education?

6) Why did you choose this Mode of Practice:

7) Advantages/Disadvantages of Mode of Practice:

8) Things you would have done differently (learned to do, not do, locations, type of practice, etc. )

 

[DrVinzKlortho]

1) How did you decide (what factors) on which town/city to practice in?

I was originally from the Philadelphia area. So when things didn't pan out moving out west I decided to come back to my family and friends. I work for a large OMD/OD practice and act as the clinic director.

2) How did you decide (what factors) on the specific office location (downtown/outskirts/etc.)?

Philly is a saturated market so I went to the suburbs with the highest bidder ($)

3) Advantages/Disadvantages of Location:

Advantage: Extremely close to Philly. Nice clean area.
Disadvantages: Still have to drive long distances and traffic equals that of big cities.

4) How did the community and location impact your mode of practice and lifestyle (compared to what you expected, etc.)?

I don't really feel it impacted my mode of practice at all. My school was in a suburb, most of my rotations were in suburbs so I was familiar with the lifestyle.

5) How did you finance your education?

Sallie f#$king Mae

6) Why did you choose this Mode of Practice:

Fairly prestigious within optometric community. Stability, benefits, 401k, etc. etc. Got tired of independent contractor work.

7) Advantages/Disadvantages of Mode of Practice:

Advantages: Clinically stimulating. Stability. Fairly prestigious.

Disadvantages: With being at a multidisciplinary practice sometimes it sucks not being the top dog. While the pay is pretty good, I feel I am not compensated nearly as much as I should be.

8) Things you would have done differently (learned to do, not do, locations, type of practice, etc.

Although I love what I do and love the subject matter I realized late in my optometric training that I would have been better suited being a clinician with more hands-on procedures like dentistry, ortho, surgeon, etc. So differently: I would have went to allopathic med school or dental school. While I'm more cavalier than the average OD as I perform many office procedures, I like working with my hands and optometry is not very stimulating in that category.

I know that doesn't really answer your question. As far as type of practice all the doom and gloom you read here take with a grain of salt. I agree that all the corporate types like America's Best et al are absolute ****. Luxottica leases are a b!tch as they like to dictate your hours and fees. I had a target for a while and while it was clean and fun at times dealing with the mongoloid manager from Gadiva Chocolates got old fast. In my experience the newer Walmart models are very lucrative and my staff at the practice I moonlight at is pretty good. Every practice is different so again take what I am saying with a grain of salt too.

 

[owlegrad]

I moved this to the appropriate forum. 🙂