Future Job Market?

[stw1976]

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Hello Everyone,

I'm needing a career change b/c I've taken my field of sonography (general ultrasound, vascular, and echocardiography) as far as I want it to go.

I am weighing optometry vs. dentistry. I'm not as concerned about getting into and through either of the schools as I am about what the nature of the job will be like and the demand for my services.

I have read through all of the various threads on this site about the debate concerning whether or not optometry is already/or will soon be saturated with too many optometrists. They seem to be more pessimistic than I would like them to be.

At any rate, I believe that I could be extremely fulfilled with either field. What scares me most about dentistry is that it will be hard on my back (I have a hx of lumbar pain from my current career). What scares me most about optometry is that I will graduate and not be able to find work in states such as CA, OR, AZ, NM, ID. I'm well aware of the fact that I probably won't be able to have my own private practice (or, with partners) right out of school. I'm okay with that although it is not something I'm thrilled about, I'm more interested in the patient care than I am in making six digits. Personally, I can be happy making 70K a year and just enjoying helping people in whatever setting it may be. Therefore, I don't mind the thought of working for lens crafters, walmart, etc. At least not enough to stop me from getting into a really cool career like optometry. I think you all get the point now 🙂

So here it is, do you think that future grads (5 yrs or so from now) will be faced with a significant challenge just trying to find ANY job in MORE areas of the country than not? Specifically, are jobs in these newer "mall/supermarket" venues going to dry up too? Like many of you, ideally, I would prefer to not work for a coorporation. This too, is not really as much about the lesser pay as it is about not being able to be my own boss. (I believe in the saying "It's not as much about how much you earn, it's really about how you choose to spend it").

Alright, it's on! Please respond, I appreciate it greatly!

 

[hflyer]

You probably won't find too many jobs in the urban/city areas. I work for Lenscrafters near my school, and our clinic has been searching for another optometrist for nearly 6 months. We've posted ads at all the optometry schools. No luck. My school is located in a rual VA town with a population of 40k. 1/3 of our patients are from another state (West VA), and they drive nearly a hour to come to our clinic. The demand for optometrists is there. It's just not very attractive living next to cows. 😛

 

[stw1976]

This post serves as a bump for more practicing OD's, and, students to reply to this thread.

I have read, as no doubt some of you have, that there are turf/profit battles going on. Here is a review of the ones that I know of, feel free to add to it:

1) Optometrists vs. Opthamologists regarding O.D.'s getting a piece of the surgery pie.

2) Coorporations (walmart, etc.) more than likely welcoming an increase in the scope of practice for opticians. Specifically, enabling them to do refractions and being able to pay them far less. I have read threads on the opthamology site that actually have OMD's pushing for this to happen too. I'm guessing to enable them to not have to partner with (any, or, far fewer) ODs and consequently make more money. It seems that some of them would love to pummel the field of optometry "Jet Li style", thereby reducing other threats they face such as the aforementioned surgery.

So....What will happen if Opthamology and coorporate eyecare team up and attempt to achieve some of this stuff? Is the field of Optometry strong enough to fend it off, or, creative enough to remain in the eye care equation via fulfilling other needs? Does the analogy of OD's being like middle management apply? (i.e. they will be laid off in great numbers, in a form of "downsizing/rightsizing")?

Jump in, anyone and everyone. Thanks!!

 

[hflyer]

A lot of optometrists work with ophthalmologists in the same office and see the same patients. It's a great symbiotic relationship. If more optometrists and ophthalmologist work together, then the less bickering we'll see and the less power the corporations (Lenscrafters/Wal-Mart) have over the healthcare industry. Ophthalmologist should stick to their own turf, surgeries, and optometrists should stick to refractions. If an optometrist really wants to perform lasik or surgeries that require a medical residency, then he/she should go get a MD. Optometrists make good partners in doing pre-op and post-op for lasik patients. Optometrists should be allowed to dispense certain pharmaceutical agents. In the interest of the patient, it would be cheaper to get topical antibiotics from an optometrist w/o insurance than an ophthamologist.

Opticians doing refractions? That's definitely a possibility. A lot of countries allow opticians to do refractions, but it won't happen in the United States. It would suck to spend 4 years undergrad and 4 years grad school to end up doing the same thing an optician can do with 2 years vocational.

 

[J.opt]

You probably won't find too many jobs in the urban/city areas. I work for Lenscrafters near my school, and our clinic has been searching for another optometrist for nearly 6 months. We've posted ads at all the optometry schools. No luck. My school is located in a rual VA town with a population of 40k. 1/3 of our patients are from another state (West VA), and they drive nearly a hour to come to our clinic. The demand for optometrists is there. It's just not very attractive living next to cows. 😛

Just curious, what kind of money would that optometrist make?

 

[stw1976]

I'm going to shadow a successful O.D. business tomorrow and bounce some of these issues off of her. Does anyone want to hear about it?

 

[scraders]

I'm going to shadow a successful O.D. business tomorrow and bounce some of these issues off of her. Does anyone want to hear about it?

i would love to hear about their thoughts on these issues.

 

[stw1976]

Here are a few of responses that the Optometrist gave me:

1) Yes, the market is saturated, and, yes, another optometry school getting started would be bad for an already tough job market.

2) I'm in a busy, lucrative, partnership. We emphasize thoroughness and level of care that the chains can't match. Due to this, we retain a solid customer base even though our prices are a bit higher. I use to practice at shopko and was unable to give my patients the level of service that I was trained to do in school because of the high volume of pt.s seen each day. Job satisfaction is much higher in private practice.

3) It is getting tougher and tougher to be able to establish places such as ours, because they're already established throughout most/all of urban America. Best chances are to do something like this rural.

4) I seriously doubt that opticians will ever be able to refractions in the U.S. as they are in Canada. Yes, there could be a strong movement for them to do them, but, our lobbying will overcome it.

5) Yes, at least in Nebraska, Opthamologists largely do not like/value optometrists very much. They tried to restrict us from prescribing drop medications. They lost the battle on that one.