Demand for Optometrists?

[Nanoosa7]

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Just wondering if there are a lot of jobs in optometry out there? Is there job stability? Will we have to worry about not being able to find a job once we graduate? Will there always be a need for optometrists?

Just a few of my concerns....any feedback would be appreciated!

 

[PreOptMegs]

Just wondering if there are a lot of jobs in optometry out there? Is there job stability? Will we have to worry about not being able to find a job once we graduate? Will there always be a need for optometrists?

Just a few of my concerns....any feedback would be appreciated!

I read this article a few weeks back that said 1/4 of all practicing Optometrists are going to retire within the next 5 years! Since there are quite a few Optometrists who run more than one business, this has the potential to open up a lot of opportunities.

 

[JennyW]

I read this article a few weeks back that said 1/4 of all practicing Optometrists are going to retire within the next 5 years! Since there are quite a few Optometrists who run more than one business, this has the potential to open up a lot of opportunities.

Most doctors who run more than one office are doing it because one office will not support a full time doctor. This is common practice in rural America.

If one of these doctors retires, it does not mean that there will suddenly be two full time job openings.

Jenny

 

[hoosier1]

Are you serious? I always thought a doctor who owns his or her own clinic would be making a decent amount of money though. Is this career really that unstable??

 

[sco1styear]

Are you serious? I always thought a doctor who owns his or her own clinic would be making a decent amount of money though. Is this career really that unstable??

Like most careers, salaries vary. There are lots of factors that play into how much you would make and different areas of the country have different averages of salaries. It's best to do a little research into where you might want to live and what the average salary is in that area. Also, in owning your own clinic it really depends on how long you have owned it and if you started from scratch or bought into a previous practice. If you start from scratch then your patient base will be less, so obviously you will most likely start off making less. Plus when you add in start up costs...you get the picture.
But, there are plenty of optometrists out there making a good living. There is one girl in my class who is like the 14th person in her family to become an optometrist (think father, uncles, cousins, etc...)!!!! If they weren't happy with the income or thought it unstable, I don't think she would be going into it! 😀 😀

 

[rpames]

There is one girl in my class who is like the 14th person in her family to become an optometrist (think father, uncles, cousins, etc...)!!!! If they weren't happy with the income or thought it unstable, I don't think she would be going into it! 😀 😀

Family members going into Optometry is why I believe the field is better off than some say. Like the girl in your class, there are lots of students at ICO that have family in the field. If optometry was is bad shape, parents would not let their kids do it too.

 

[WiscoOD]

Family members going into Optometry is why I believe the field is better off than some say. Like the girl in your class, there are lots of students at ICO that have family in the field. If optometry was is bad shape, parents would not let their kids do it too.

I am starting at ICO in the fall and I totally agree with you. my grandfather was an optometrist and my father has been practicing for almost 30 years now in my hometown. I have talked with my father a lot about the types of things i have been reading on the internet and he has never waivered on what he has told me about optometry. there is no way he would ever let me or encourage me to go into optometry if it was "doomed" as so many people on a few of the message boards believe it is. every profession has people with a poor outlook, my brother, who is a dentist, has told me about people who he works with who have the same outlook on dentistry.

 

[Tom_Stickel]

The question of demand is in much debate on message boards such as seniordoc. The consensus seems to be that there are already too many ODs. As Jenny says, many doctors in rural areas practice at multiple locations to make a living. In addition, many doctors in urban areas bounce around between several commercial locations. I did this, in fact, and I still didn't make very much money.

The problem with old ODs is that they DON'T retire. Optometry is a very easy job to practice part-time. Most old ODs slowly run their practices into the ground, working progressively fewer days and not buying any new equipment. Then, when they go to retire, their practices aren't worth buying. This makes it difficult for a young OD to get started.

In addition, there are plans to open two new Optometry Schools, although the one in N. Carolina appears stalled. This would make the oversupply problem worse.

Now, given this oversupply, I think the jobs will still be out there. But they will be Wal-Mart jobs that don't pay as well and are fought over by more and more people with larger and larger loans. If you have a special skill (contact lenses, ocular disease, vision therapy) or you are willing to work your butt off, you will still do well in the field. If you're expecting a big salary and a dream job in your own private practice, you need to re-evaluate your goals.

As for family members, it's a lot easier to buy into a private practice if your mom or dad is selling it to you. Also, the parents of today's students built up there successful practices back in the day when you could get rich quick by selling 2 contact lenses for $400 and there wasn't any Wal-Mart to compete with. So unless mom is willing to give you a chunk of the business, don't rely on the number legacies in your class as a measure of the health of the profession.

I'm not telling anyone to drop out of school, but I'd like people to be aware of the issues.

Tom Stickel
Indiana U. 2001

 

[JennyW]

The question of demand is in much debate on message boards such as seniordoc. The consensus seems to be that there are already too many ODs. As Jenny says, many doctors in rural areas practice at multiple locations to make a living. In addition, many doctors in urban areas bounce around between several commercial locations. I did this, in fact, and I still didn't make very much money.

The problem with old ODs is that they DON'T retire. Optometry is a very easy job to practice part-time. Most old ODs slowly run their practices into the ground, working progressively fewer days and not buying any new equipment. Then, when they go to retire, their practices aren't worth buying. This makes it difficult for a young OD to get started.

In addition, there are plans to open two new Optometry Schools, although the one in N. Carolina appears stalled. This would make the oversupply problem worse.

Now, given this oversupply, I think the jobs will still be out there. But they will be Wal-Mart jobs that don't pay as well and are fought over by more and more people with larger and larger loans. If you have a special skill (contact lenses, ocular disease, vision therapy) or you are willing to work your butt off, you will still do well in the field. If you're expecting a big salary and a dream job in your own private practice, you need to re-evaluate your goals.

As for family members, it's a lot easier to buy into a private practice if your mom or dad is selling it to you. Also, the parents of today's students built up there successful practices back in the day when you could get rich quick by selling 2 contact lenses for $400 and there wasn't any Wal-Mart to compete with. So unless mom is willing to give you a chunk of the business, don't rely on the number legacies in your class as a measure of the health of the profession.

I'm not telling anyone to drop out of school, but I'd like people to be aware of the issues.

Tom Stickel
Indiana U. 2001

That was a terrific post. Dead on.

Jenny

 

[scalded]

I'm getting ready to apply to optometry school this year and have been researching the field as much as I'm able too.

There seems to be a pretty wide range of opinions on whether there is an oversupply of optometrist graduates. It makes it a bit nerve wracking when trying to decide whether or not you will be able to get a job or keep a practice going long term after taking on $100,000+ in debt.

Most of the hard number information on supply seems to be from the late 1990's and 2000.

http://www.revoptom.com/archive/features/ro1100f1stateofoptometry.htm

Does anyone know if things have changed much since then?
I see there was a lot of opposition to the proposed new school in N.C. and they sited an oversupply of optometrists as their reason.

Plus with opticians getting the right to refract in Canada I have to wonder if a few years down the line you would be seeing Walmarts with opticians instead of optometrists.

 

[Sanman]

Just a gneral note, legacies are NOT a good marker of the health of a field. This goes for dentistry, medicine, psych, etc as well. These people are in a very different position from others. Even if the field is dead for new comers, these people will be handed a good deal regardless of the regular job market if a family member is already in the business. I have a few friends/ family members taking over for parent's practice and they are making extremely high starting salaries in their fields due to the fact that their successful parents are essentially handing off a fully run practice to them and is fully vested in making sure the past patients continue to come. This is much the same as saying that the real estate game is solid and stable because the Trump kids are going into it. Also, legacies generally are a self-selecting group, only the successful parents tend to encourage the kids to follow in their footsteps, thus these are also the ones more likely to be handed successful practices.

 

[lee0539]

Wait... the most expensive school was around $25,000 for tuition and fees according to opted.org. Was that for one year then? My gosh $100,000 debt is pretty big load.

I thought optometry was still in higher demand compared to dentist considering how many dentistry schools there are.

 

[Tasteestuff]

Like any other profession, be a leader and not a follower.

If you are business savvy, you will be fine. Just try to be creative and different.

Classmate started her own practice exactly 1 month ago (I spoke to her yesterday), a fresh/brand new practice in southern GA, fully booked for 2 weeks in advance already.. 😱

I find 90% of graduating optometrists are not risk takers and will always just get by making reasonable living. Don't fall into that group.. Please..

I notice that there are 2 groups of optometrist:

1. Earn $75000 ~80000 and complain and Bietch about the profession because they are always struggling.

2. Earn more than $200000, takes chances and enjoys their profession.

Group 1 usually work for Lenscrafters, Pearlevision or crap like that and cry and whine about how there is NO money in this profession and,

Group 2 usually took many risks, researched and studied the market and undestand what is needed in their area and typically own their business.

Don't give me that crap about 'how about my loans..etc..'. The colleague above had $150000 in student loan and took out another $120000 for her practice. She and her husband are very business savvy and I will bet that she will be one of the most successful optometrists in my graduating class.

 

[JennyW]

Like any other profession, be a leader and not a follower.

If you are business savvy, you will be fine. Just try to be creative and different.

Classmate started her own practice exactly 1 month ago (I spoke to her yesterday), a fresh/brand new practice in southern GA, fully booked for 2 weeks in advance already.. 😱

I find 90% of graduating optometrists are not risk takers and will always just get by making reasonable living. Don't fall into that group.. Please..

I notice that there are 2 groups of optometrist:

1. Earn $75000 ~80000 and complain and Bietch about the profession because they are always struggling.

2. Earn more than $200000, takes chances and enjoys their profession.

Group 1 usually work for Lenscrafters, Pearlevision or crap like that and cry and whine about how there is NO money in this profession and,

Group 2 usually took many risks, researched and studied the market and undestand what is needed in their area and typically own their business.

Don't give me that crap about 'how about my loans..etc..'. The colleague above had $150000 in student loan and took out another $120000 for her practice. She and her husband are very business savvy and I will bet that she will be one of the most successful optometrists in my graduating class.

I would guess that your friend is working in a relatively rural, underserved area.

That should be a good lesson for the students on here.

In order to be successful, it will be much easier if you are willing to relocate to areas tha are underserved. If you insist on practicing in a large urban area, particularly one that has a lot of optometry OR ophthalmology programs nearby, then you will have a much harder to of it.

Jenny

 

[rpames]

I would guess that your friend is working in a relatively rural, underserved area.

That should be a good lesson for the students on here.

In order to be successful, it will be much easier if you are willing to relocate to areas tha are underserved. If you insist on practicing in a large urban area, particularly one that has a lot of optometry OR ophthalmology programs nearby, then you will have a much harder to of it.

Jenny

This is true of any profession. Put your little sandwich shop in the middle of a bunch of sit-down restaurants, & your will have a hard time making a living. But this does not mean put the shop where no other returants are located. Put it next to a business district and a campuss and you will get a nice lunch crowd.

So what am I saying? Of course, it would be stupid to open you new private non-specialised pratice in an Optometry School city. But it would be equally as stupid to open the office in a location where there are no other ODs with in 100 miles. The question you need to ask yourself is, "Why are there no ODs here?" Perhaps it is a crappy location! Basically, you can make almost any location a good one if you are a good OD, chains near by or not. But an office in an unserved area can be more difficult to make successful.

 

[luvthemhogs]

What about buying in? This is something I have thought about doing, purchasing a share of the practice from an already practicing OD. No patient base to try and build from the ground up. Does this happen very frequently?

 

[sandst]

Where is the other new optometry school planned??

 

[Tom_Stickel]

Where is the other new optometry school planned??

They want to put it in California, as a private school, affiliated with a DO school. Evidently the DOs are the ones who want to do it, not the ODs. They apparently see OD schools as a good money making addition.

As a general note, I just read a note from the major OD player trying to halt the NC school, and he hasn't heard anything about either school for a while. So either the plans for both are held up, or it's the calm before the storm.

Tom Stickel

 

[r_salis]

As a general note, I just read a note from the major OD player trying to halt the NC school, and he hasn't heard anything about either school for a while. So either the plans for both are held up, or it's the calm before the storm.

I read in the latest issue of Review of Optometry that the NC isn't going through with their school. The article mentioned a huge petition against it that started at seniordoc.org that was partly responsible for stopping the school, which is pretty cool.