inflation stats? scco/berkeley/pacific

[chester]

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Hello,
first of all, I would like to thank everyone in this forum/community because there is a lot of helpful information here. It feels good to know there are other future optometrists out there sharing information and uncertainties.

A few days ago, I read through a post regarding "saturation of optometrists" or something like that. Honestly, it made me feel somewhat nervous. Every optometrist I've spoken to has strongly recomended pursuing optometry and say it is great money. Without writing an autobiography, I know how to work hard, communicate well, and love my current job in an eye clinic. I am the type of person who likes to recreate and would love to have 3 day weekends. One of the main reasons I want to become an optometrist is because I would like to have the freedom to live (and practice) wherever I want. The saturation/inflation thing makes me feel somewhat nervous because I DO NOT want to live in crapville. My question: Does anybody know how to get information regarding optometry saturation/inflation in specific areas of the U.S., particularly Oregon, Montana, Idaho, central California, and Washington?
My father started up his own law practice, cold turkey, knowing nobody, in a small town. The best advice he ever got was "provide good service at a fair price." Will this work nowadays?

also, I was just accepted to So Cal College of Optom. and have pending applications at Berkeley and Pacific University. If anybody has any personal or inside input on those schools, please share! thanks

 

[Potato!]

The only thing I can add is my impression of Pacific. I also applied here last year and was accepted. I was very impressed with how nice the admissions folks are. Michael Goodwin is such a nice guy. Also, the laid back atmosphere that administration and profs had about schooling really appealed to me. When they were trying to sell me on the school, they talked a lot of extracurriculars, skiing, mountain biking, the ocean nearby. So all those aspects sounded nice. I was a little turned off by how small (and imo), how dumpy the town of Forest Grove was. Also, the optometry building was a little small and run down....but that's not really any reason not to attend. In the end, I was turned off by (again imo) the lesser amount of clinical exposure I would get at Pacific versus schools in large cities (SUNY, ICO). Hope you can derive some use from something I mentioned here.

 

[xmattODx]

I was a little turned off by how small (and imo), how dumpy the town of Forest Grove was. Also, the optometry building was a little small and run down....but that's not really any reason not to attend. In the end, I was turned off by (again imo) the lesser amount of clinical exposure I would get at Pacific versus schools in large cities (SUNY, ICO). Hope you can derive some use from something I mentioned here.

1) Pacific's clinic's are not old and run-down, nor are its classrooms. Forest Grove clinic and classrooms were re-built from the ground up my first year at Pacific (1998-1999) and have some really great technology

2) If you hope to practice in Oregon look outside of the metro-Portland area. Rural areas in most states will give you better opportunity but that is especially true in Portland. Know also that if you practice anywhere in OR, WA, and I think CA you sacrifice some pay for lifestyle. I.E. everyone wants to live there so employers don't need to pay much, and the competition drives exam fees down.

3) Just to note: Clinical exposure at Pacific comes from its clinics in Portland, and while students are on their external rotations. I sat down with some recent Pacific students and compared the number of patients students from other schools were seeing and it seemed to be about the same. The biggest difference is that most patients seen by Pacific students are seen in their fourth year. That is easily overcome by being bold enough to invite friends, neighbours, co-workers, etc. to come in for an exam while you are in third year clinic.

 

[heretic]

I'm a first year at SCCO, so I'll say a few things about it.

The clinic is brand new, so everything is pretty state of the art. They are moving toward electronic medical records, but that probably won't happen for a couple of years.

From what I've experienced the first quarter, and what I've heard from upperclassmen the faculty is good overall, and they are very willing to help you if you don't understand a concept.

I feel like my class is pretty well represented and diverse. They get a fair amount of people from the midwest and southwest.

The weather is always very nice in Fullerton, but there's not much to do in the immediate area. A car is a must because everything down here is pretty spread out.

1st quarter of third year is when u start seeing a lot of patients in the clinic. 4th year rotations are apparently what the school is known for. They have external sites in arizona, missouri, alaska, hawaii, japan, las vegas, etc. These sites include VA hospitals, military bases, Indian Health Services sites, so it's a good mix, and a good opportunity to see a lot of hard pathologies and things.

Bottom line: Personally I like SCCO, but Cal is cool too. I did my undergrad there, and ended up #3 on the waitlist in the end. Would I have gone to Berkeley if I had gotten in? Probably. Am I glad that I ended up at SCCO? Definetely.