don't go into optometry!!

[cityhunter]

why the hell you would want to go into optometry?

that is like Zack in titanic movie, win the gamble and get back in a ship that will sink.

in this case, zack didn't know what was coming to him. but you do.

Look at AOA report http://www.aoa.org/documents/20-20-R...020%208-05.pdf

there's already 3000 optometrist oversupplied, and there will be 6000 optometrist oversupplied in 2016.

on top of this there will be 3 more optometry school opening, not to mention AOA report was not considering 3 more schools.

AOA is affiliated with those 3 new schools and get money from them.
in return, new schools make money off of naive students.

AOA report is more accurate than what Deparment of Labor is saying.

when you graduate, you will make 75K. this is pretty accurate.

whereas if you go into pharmacy, you will make 100K.

Pharmacist made less money than optometrist throughout the history, now they beat us!

In future, difference will only be larger. by far, pharmacist is going to make hella more money.

good times are gone. Thanks to stupid AOA and new schools, optometry will only face oversupply, eating each other in order to survive.

oh,, if you do optometry until 2030, which is 28 years later, you will see that supply and demand meets back again. but you will be close to 60 years old when that happens.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[eyestrain]

Optometry definitely has it's downsides, but I'm not sure pharmacy is some glorious profession devoid of any problems. I see more pharmacists working nights and weekends than optometrists. How many private practice pharmacies do you see?

 

[Habitual Rx]

Your name says it all. You want to live in the big city and practice with all of the other ODs?

When becoming an OD, people have to understand you will be successful if you go where the demand is... not wherever has the most Starbucks shops.

 

[Jay12]

Pharmacist made less money than optometrist throughout the history, now they beat us!

In future, difference will only be larger. by far, pharmacist is going to make hella more money.

Why are we picking on pharmacy?????

"now they beat us!" ? Never knew it was a competition to begin with

 

[SarahNC]

oh,, if you do optometry until 2030, which is 28 years later, you will see that supply and demand meets back again. but you will be close to 60 years old when that happens.

I wouldn't trust any source that can't do the math... 2030-2008 is 22, not 28, and I don't know about others getting ready to enter opt school, but in 22 years, I will only be 44, not 60.

And stop focusing so much on these stupid predictions. Nobody can predict the future. Remember, we were supposed to be living on the moon by 1995?

AND, if pharmacy is so much better, then be a pharmacist! I, personally, do NOT want to be piddling away my nights and weekends at CVS standing around counting to 30 all day. (no offense ), regardless of what they make relative to us.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

AND one more thing: It was JACK in Titanic, not Zack, JEEZ!!!

 

[JAZZEYE]

I wouldn't trust any source that can't do the math... 2030-2008 is 22, not 28, and I don't know about others getting ready to enter opt school, but in 22 years, I will only be 44, not 60.

And stop focusing so much on these stupid predictions. Nobody can predict the future. Remember, we were supposed to be living on the moon by 1995?

AND, if pharmacy is so much better, then be a pharmacist! I, personally, do NOT want to be piddling away my nights and weekends at CVS standing around counting to 30 all day. (no offense ), regardless of what they make relative to us.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

AND one more thing: It was JACK in Titanic, not Zack, JEEZ!!!

I like this lady ......

 

[drbizzaro]

AND one more thing: It was JACK in Titanic, not Zack, JEEZ!!!

hahaah! that is hilarious dude!

and yeah, that kid is an absolute joke!

 

[fonziefonz]

Wow, this guy is quite the 'hater'!

 

[JAZZEYE]

Wow, this guy is quite the 'hater'!

Kinda makes you wonder about this "cityhunter" person
.... who joins a forum about Optometry June 2008 and immediately comes on so strong about why we all should not choose this professsion.

If you are researching a career choice for yourself and find that Optometry does not offer what you are looking for, why not just move on ? Why bother with so much commentary sounds like Optometry is pretty much a dead issue for you.
"Optometrist VS Echocardiographer Please help" ......huhhhhhhh.

 

[DPMstudent]

Kinda makes you wonder about this "cityhunter" person
.... who joins a forum about Optometry June 2008 and immediately comes on so strong about why we all should not choose this professsion.

If you are researching a career choice for yourself and find that Optometry does not offer what you are looking for, why not just move on ? Why bother with so much commentary sounds like Optometry is pretty much a dead issue for you.
"Optometrist VS Echocardiographer Please help" ......huhhhhhhh.

his copypasta skills are immaculate though....
i like how he posted one response, copied it and used it to start a new thread, i give this person at least a 6/10

 

[Oculomotor]

Who the hell is this cityhunter dude?

 

[jc812]

Cityhunter is probably an OD who thinks that his/her profession is threatened by us pre-opt kids.

 

[DPMstudent]

according to himself, cityhunter is "a prospective optometry school student, but i am in great dilemma here whether i should change my career to echocardiographer(heart ultrasound technician)"

but he sounds like a troll to me. the "zach"/jack titanic thing was funny though

 

[cityhunter]

you guys think i am joking huh?

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median) 75% 90% Hourly Wage $23.07$32.98$45.09$58.61(5)Annual Wage (2) $47,980$68,590$93,800$121,910(5)

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291041.htm

take a look at the table from Dept. of labor. 1 out 10 optometrist make $23/hour. 3 out of 10 makes $30/hour.

only 2 out of 10 optometrist makes over 120K.

range is huge. to even back up what i am talking about, let me give you a source that indicate what optometrist make in 75 metropolitan cities.

http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/59.html

take a look at houston, or tucson.

avg. optometrist make $55K in houston, that's an average, that means there are optometrist who make $40K working full time. this is huge mistake in investment and time and sweat to be an optometrist.

you wanna spend 4years and 200K to earn 40K? 10%of you will.

yes, there are about 2 out of 10 optometrists, making more than 120K. but how likely will you have that kind of chance and talent ? you have to have good location, and people skill. people in those spot, won't let go.

on average, optometrists are offered about 75K at most of places. but that's still not good enough!! think about 4 years and 200K that you invested. nurses make 70K for god sake. pharmacist make 100K right out of school anywhere!!

come on,, guys, open your eyes, see the reality. you guys were mislead by those Fancy AOA and CNN news.

heck , i don't even want to talk about oversupply and 3 additional school on top of 17 schools.

 

[fonziefonz]

Cityhunter is probably an OD who thinks that his/her profession is threatened by us pre-opt kids.

Its true, all pre-ODs are horrible people. I'm sure some of the current ODs have stats to prove it.

 

[cpw]

you guys think i am joking huh?

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median) 75% 90% Hourly Wage $23.07$32.98$45.09$58.61(5)Annual Wage (2) $47,980$68,590$93,800$121,910(5)

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291041.htm

take a look at the table from Dept. of labor. 1 out 10 optometrist make $23/hour. 3 out of 10 makes $30/hour.

only 2 out of 10 optometrist makes over 120K.

range is huge. to even back up what i am talking about, let me give you a source that indicate what optometrist make in 75 metropolitan cities.

http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/59.html

take a look at houston, or tucson.

avg. optometrist make $55K in houston, that's an average, that means there are optometrist who make $40K working full time. this is huge mistake in investment and time and sweat to be an optometrist.

you wanna spend 4years and 200K to earn 40K? 10%of you will.

yes, there are about 2 out of 10 optometrists, making more than 120K. but how likely will you have that kind of chance and talent ? you have to have good location, and people skill. people in those spot, won't let go.

on average, optometrists are offered about 75K at most of places. but that's still not good enough!! think about 4 years and 200K that you invested. nurses make 70K for god sake. pharmacist make 100K right out of school anywhere!!

come on,, guys, open your eyes, see the reality. you guys were mislead by those Fancy AOA and CNN news.

heck , i don't even want to talk about oversupply and 3 additional school on top of 17 schools.

No where on there does it say the bottom 10% is working full-time. I would gather those are part-time ODs.

 

[gochi]

you guys think i am joking huh?

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median) 75% 90% Hourly Wage $23.07$32.98$45.09$58.61(5)Annual Wage (2) $47,980$68,590$93,800$121,910(5)

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291041.htm

take a look at the table from Dept. of labor. 1 out 10 optometrist make $23/hour. 3 out of 10 makes $30/hour.

only 2 out of 10 optometrist makes over 120K.

range is huge. to even back up what i am talking about, let me give you a source that indicate what optometrist make in 75 metropolitan cities.

http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/59.html

take a look at houston, or tucson.

avg. optometrist make $55K in houston, that's an average, that means there are optometrist who make $40K working full time. this is huge mistake in investment and time and sweat to be an optometrist.

you wanna spend 4years and 200K to earn 40K? 10%of you will.

yes, there are about 2 out of 10 optometrists, making more than 120K. but how likely will you have that kind of chance and talent ? you have to have good location, and people skill. people in those spot, won't let go.

on average, optometrists are offered about 75K at most of places. but that's still not good enough!! think about 4 years and 200K that you invested. nurses make 70K for god sake. pharmacist make 100K right out of school anywhere!!

come on,, guys, open your eyes, see the reality. you guys were mislead by those Fancy AOA and CNN news.

heck , i don't even want to talk about oversupply and 3 additional school on top of 17 schools.

Im not gonna work in Houston when I graduate.

 

[hello07]

Cityhunter,
If it's all about the money, then don't go into Optometry dude. It's a good profession, offers a decent living, clean, stress free most of the time and you make what you want out of it. Would I recommend this profession to a friend or prospective student? Hell NO! Not worth it in MY EYES.
Please stop with your crap rantings about 30 an hour and 23 an hour and so forth.
Most optometrists employed in private practice or corporate ANYWHERE in the USA make 350/ 375/ 400 a day. Some, depending with arrangements they make MIGHT earn more. 425-450 ?
No one in their right mind with an OD is going to get paid 55K .
Please stop your BS!

 

[hello07]

Furthermore,
it works out to either 40/hr, 45/hr, or 50/hr. Sure, some make 55 to 60/hr. If you think you are going to be happy being a echo tech - GO MAN and be happy. I am so tired reading all this crap by so many of you thiese thread have turned into complete nonsense. People just running their mouths left and right with no validity.
Pre-opt students are experts. Optometry students are Noble prize winners.
Pleassssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

on average, optometrists are offered about 75K at most of places. but that's still not good enough!! think about 4 years and 200K that you invested. nurses make 70K for god sake. pharmacist make 100K right out of school anywhere!!

come on,, guys, open your eyes, see the reality. you guys were mislead by those Fancy AOA and CNN news.

heck , i don't even want to talk about oversupply and 3 additional school on top of 17 schools.

Pharmacist's make that much because they work long hours. My Walgreen's pharmacist works every other weekend (10am-10pm), 8-5 on 3-4 weekdays and 8-10 on 1-2 of the other weekdays. So in a given month, she works from just above 40 hours for a light week to as many as 75ish hours for a busy week. I'd say they earn their money.

Nurses, inpatient ones anyway, can have variable schedules - I think working the night shift should pay more if it doesn't already. Also, they have to deal with some pretty unpleasant stuff throughout the day. I'm ok with paying them pretty well. They also have to put up with people like me, that's definitely worth a nice bonus

 

[cityhunter]

Pharmacist's make that much because they work long hours.

Nurses, inpatient ones anyway, can have variable schedules - I think

No, pharmacist gets $50/hour because they are in shortage!!. their payscale has significantly increased since 1998. if they are in oversupply, they would still make like $35/hour.

Nurses, they write their own schedule!!!! they are in huge shortage.

Optometrist work odd hours and often weekends including sundays. many optometrist work evening, weekends in commercial places. in private, they are getting less paid, like $70 K.

there is no doubt that optometry is for stupid naive students.

 

[cityhunter]

No where on there does it say the bottom 10% is working full-time. I would gather those are part-time ODs.

are you blind?

Please take a look at the table.

10% of optometrist makes $23/hour which means $47K

does this mean part time to you?

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

No, pharmacist gets $50/hour because they are in shortage!!. their payscale has significantly increased since 1998. if they are in oversupply, they would still make like $35/hour.

Nurses, they write their own schedule!!!! they are in huge shortage.

Optometrist work odd hours and often weekends including sundays. many optometrist work evening, weekends in commercial places. in private, they are getting less paid, like $70 K.

there is no doubt that optometry is for stupid naive students.

You are an idiot. Nurses do not write their own schedule, otherwise hospitals would be deserted at night and everyone would do outpatient work. Pharmacists, when adjusted for hours work, make about the same as ODs - in the outpatient setting of course. Plus, quite frankly, I wouldn't do their job. I'm told the tedium of the outpatient pharmacy is somewhat soul crushing. Your last comment shows your remarkable bias and, thus, I can take your agenda and ignore anything you say since even if I could prove 100% that ODs got paid about the same per hour you wouldn't listen.

 

[eyestrain]

You are an idiot.

Agreed.

 

[DPMstudent]

Agreed.

double agreed... this guy thinks nurses write their own schedules

 

[drbizzaro]

are you blind?

Please take a look at the table.

10% of optometrist makes $23/hour which means $47K

does this mean part time to you?

wow.... cpw, take a look at what this ***** said to you

i think you should boot his ass

 

[IndianaOD]

Pharmacy and nursing are in a shortage situation no doubt and that has significantly increased incomes. I think pharmacy will level out in a bit once the new schools come online.

From my understanding the pharmacist shortage came from requiring a PharmD instead of a master's level degree. We need to bump optometry up to 6 years!

I think Optometry is in significant oversupply and just about to get MUCH worse. This is the main reason I would not recommend the profession. Otherwise its a pretty decent gig. I actually think both ODs and OMDs are in oversupply. Close a couple OD schools and eliminate general OMDs and we would be in good balance.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

Pharmacy and nursing are in a shortage situation no doubt and that has significantly increased incomes. I think pharmacy will level out in a bit once the new schools come online.

From my understanding the pharmacist shortage came from requiring a PharmD instead of a master's level degree. We need to bump optometry up to 6 years!

I think Optometry is in significant oversupply and just about to get MUCH worse. This is the main reason I would not recommend the profession. Otherwise its a pretty decent gig. I actually think both ODs and OMDs are in oversupply. Close a couple OD schools and eliminate general OMDs and we would be in good balance.

The pharmacist shortage from a pharmacy perspective comes from an increased usage of prescriptions, baby boomers, retail practice, and expanded roles of pharmacy management.

http://www.kansas.com/business/healthcare/story/428041.html

When I entered pharmacy school a while back, the wages were around 80k. Starting salaries are now ~120k! Most career outlooks (salary.com, Bls Occupational outlook) estimates pharmacy to expand at least 18 - 23 percent with new jobs outpacing graduates far and large. The funny thing was we had a couple of pharmacists claiming surplus (I believed them) due to technology a few years back. It turned out 8 years later. . this only increased demand for pharmacists even more due to pharmacy informatics, increased profitability (think 4 dollar generics), etc.

 

[bobbybooshay]

You need to F^$#% off cityhunter!!

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Pharmacy and nursing are in a shortage situation no doubt and that has significantly increased incomes. I think pharmacy will level out in a bit once the new schools come online.

From my understanding the pharmacist shortage came from requiring a PharmD instead of a master's level degree. We need to bump optometry up to 6 years!

I think Optometry is in significant oversupply and just about to get MUCH worse. This is the main reason I would not recommend the profession. Otherwise its a pretty decent gig. I actually think both ODs and OMDs are in oversupply. Close a couple OD schools and eliminate general OMDs and we would be in good balance.

Its my understanding (at least at my school) that the PharmD students do 2 years of undergrad then 4 years of pharm school so, technically, y'all already have more years in school.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

Its my understanding (at least at my school) that the PharmD students do 2 years of undergrad then 4 years of pharm school so, technically, y'all already have more years in school.

While it varies, the standard is 4 years plus 4 years as norm. 6 year programs are common (23 year old running around with 120k salary like me) but they are similar to 7 years DO program, etc. Back then, pharmacy was a bachelor 5 year program.

 

[gochi]

While it varies, the standard is 4 years plus 4 years as norm. 6 year programs are common (23 year old running around with 120k salary like me) but they are similar to 7 years DO program, etc. Back then, pharmacy was a bachelor 5 year program.

The 5-year program was sufficient enough to teach pill counting.

 

[VCU07]

I prefer not to ask if number 1 or 2 was better...

 

[fonziefonz]

I prefer not to ask if number 1 or 2 was better...

I prefer to be called 'Doctor'.

 

[eyestrain]

Didn't we just have an optometrist v. pharmacist thread here not too long ago? This is so stupid.

 

[gochi]

I prefer to be called 'Doctor'.

 

[JAZZEYE]

 

[gochi]

What?

It's funny because its true.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

What?

It's funny because its true.

Haha so true. . I agree 100 percent.

You know what else is true? If you map out this trend of supple versus demand and wage factor, pharmacists will soon be making not only more (since apparently we already do), but way more than opts. minus the oversupply and lack of recognition. Just keep on laughing while I'll keep on smiling every time I go to the bank knowing the public needs more "pill counters" than "eye doctors" .

 

[eyestrain]

Could you guys be any more immature about this? Good God, it's like reading a playground fight between a bunch of 5 year olds.

 

[gochi]

Could you guys be any more immature about this? Good God, it's like reading a playground fight between a bunch of 5 year olds.

Yes, see my reply.

 

[gochi]

Haha so true. . I agree 100 percent.

You know what else is true? If you map out this trend of supple versus demand and wage factor, pharmacists will soon be making not only more (since apparently we already do), but way more than opts. minus the oversupply and lack of recognition. Just keep on laughing while I'll keep on smiling every time I go to the bank knowing the public needs more "pill counters" than "eye doctors" .

Wait...so they thought you how to predict the future and count pills, at the same time, in pharm school ? These are assumptions. You cant possibly tell me you actually believe that this will ever happen.

But really, did you go to pharm school due to the apparent rising salary, as you stated, or were you just really good at organizing smarties with respect to color ?

 

[eyestrain]

Wait...so they thought you how to predict the future and count pills, at the same time, in pharm school ? These are assumptions. You cant possibly tell me you actually believe that this will ever happen.

But really, did you go to pharm school due to the apparent rising salary, as you stated, or were you just really good at organizing smarties with respect to color ?

Why? Why do you post this drivel? Do you enjoy looking like an ignorant a$$? That's pretty much all you've managed to do.

 

[gochi]

Why? Why do you post this drivel? Do you enjoy looking like an ignorant a$$? That's pretty much all you've managed to do.

First, its not drivel. They are actual questions.

Second, yes I do.

And, speaking of ignorant a$$e$... (thats a compliment)

 

[PutiTai]

why the hell you would want to go into optometry?

I highly recommend the "gain a passion for optometry" brand of contacts for you.

 

[aphistis]

Closing.

 

[cpw]

Thanks, Bill.. I've been too busy seeing patients to jump on this sooner. Seriously, y'all, this thread reads like it's being written by a bunch of 3rd graders.