Job market for OD in 2011

[Smooth Operater]

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I know it's a long way to go, but therotically, that's the year I will obtain a OD degree *assuming everything goes as plan*. And I know it's hard to predict the job market nowdays, but it would be nice to see what you optometrists outta there think.

Will the job market saturated with optometrist, and incomes starts to drop in 2011?

Will there be less demand for optometrists in future, since more eye treatment technology will introduced which will rely more on opthamologist?

 

[samwY]

Good question.

I'm a 2011 student also. That is, if I get into PCO or SUNY!

 

[Potato!]

My situation is very similiar to both of the previous two posters. I am very uncertain about the future of optometry. I was accepted to SUNY, Pacific & ICO, but I ended up deferring my placement for a year. Over the 4 years of the O.D. degree, I was looking at 150K of debt. In my opinion (feel free to counter), the future of optometry does not look very promising. Optometrists are being squeezed out by opticians and ophthalmologists...the market seems to be getting smaller. Already in British Columbia, opticians have successfully lobbied for the right to refract, and more and more the ophthalmologists are fighting to limited the rights of optometrists.

It's definately an uphill battle for optometrists to say the least. Already, it seems to me that there is a trend of optometrists making less $$$ each year. Do not believe the statistics published by the AOA or those published by the optometry schools. They seem very inflatted to me (Relating to Incomes). Go over to www.seniordoc.org and read their stories. It sounds like the recent O.D. grads are really struggling to find jobs where they can make even 60K a year. The market in the US is becoming saturated with O.D.'s and this makes them less in demand and incomes drop.

I went through all the pain of writing the OAT, submitted applications to various schools, flying out for interviews, yet I am happy with my decision to defer optometry school for at least a year. I am so uncertain about the future of the profession that at this time I am completely unwilling to go into debt 150K, in order to make 60K a year (possibly less if the market continues to saturate, which it will, due to too many grads, and not enough retirement).

Feel free to bring it on, if you have a more optimistic outlook on the future of optometry.

 

[britbits]

My situation is very similiar to both of the previous two posters. I am very uncertain about the future of optometry. I was accepted to SUNY, Pacific & ICO, but I ended up deferring my placement for a year. Over the 4 years of the O.D. degree, I was looking at 150K of debt. In my opinion (feel free to counter), the future of optometry does not look very promising. Optometrists are being squeezed out by opticians and ophthalmologists...the market seems to be getting smaller. Already in British Columbia, opticians have successfully lobbied for the right to refract, and more and more the ophthalmologists are fighting to limited the rights of optometrists.

It's definately an uphill battle for optometrists to say the least. Already, it seems to me that there is a trend of optometrists making less $$$ each year. Do not believe the statistics published by the AOA or those published by the optometry schools. They seem very inflatted to me (Relating to Incomes). Go over to www.seniordoc.org and read their stories. It sounds like the recent O.D. grads are really struggling to find jobs where they can make even 60K a year. The market in the US is becoming saturated with O.D.'s and this makes them less in demand and incomes drop.

I went through all the pain of writing the OAT, submitted applications to various schools, flying out for interviews, yet I am happy with my decision to defer optometry school for at least a year. I am so uncertain about the future of the profession that at this time I am completely unwilling to go into debt 150K, in order to make 60K a year (possibly less if the market continues to saturate, which it will, due to too many grads, and not enough retirement).

Feel free to bring it on, if you have a more optimistic outlook on the future of optometry.

Im afraid there is no optimistic outlook here. I was an optometrist for many years until I rcently changed careers due to lack of ANY jobs here in California. You don't have to take anyone's word for it either. Just go to monster.com, your local paper or google optometry jobs in your area. See just how much (or little, actually) is out there.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Im afraid there is no optimistic outlook here. I was an optometrist for many years until I rcently changed careers due to lack of ANY jobs here in California. You don't have to take anyone's word for it either. Just go to monster.com, your local paper or google optometry jobs in your area. See just how much (or little, actually) is out there.

Whenever i go on some optometry school websites i usually check out "practice opportunity page" like SUNY has....they update almost every 10-20 days...and there seems to be a lot of opportunity. Though a lot of them are fill ins...i see a fair share of people looking for PT/FT OD's....and as far as the fill ins go...for one day they usually compensate enough for approximate 50 or more an hour.

So out of curiosity from ODs right now or OD students...does that sound like a good hourly wage?

 

[KHE]

Im afraid there is no optimistic outlook here. I was an optometrist for many years until I rcently changed careers due to lack of ANY jobs here in California. You don't have to take anyone's word for it either. Just go to monster.com, your local paper or google optometry jobs in your area. See just how much (or little, actually) is out there.

monster.com and other services similar to that are horrible ways to look for positions in this field. There's such a limited pool of potential applicants (ie: you need to be a licensed optometrist) that the overwhelming majority of positions aren't listed with services like that.

I found that I had the best luck cold calling people and asking if they were looking for someone. Many times they weren't but optometrists tend to be fairly aware of what's going on in their field around them and often times even if someone is not looking, they may know of someone who is.

Also, frame and lens reps are good people to ask, NOT drug reps.