jobs in Houston area?

[eyecare]

CPW, I noticed that you are in the Houston area. I am graduating from ICO this semester and my husband and I will relocate to Houston. He is a computer networking specialist and cannot find a job in Chicago.
How is the market in Houston for Optometrists? I know the cost of living is cheaper than here. Any tips at all will be most appreciated!

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[TAL]

eyecare,

Here is a link for a fairly recent study of the number of optometrist in Texas by city.

http://srph.brc.tamus.edu/html/opt-totals.pdf

As you can see, Houston has around 335 optometrists, as opposed to Dallas, which has 109 optometrists yet is similar in size to Houston. You can draw your own conclusions, but to me, this would indicate that Houston is fairly saturated with OD's. This can probably be attributed to the fact that the school is in Houston. With that said, there are always opportunities floating around, mostly commercial work. You would probably have to put in a good amount of work to either find a private practice to join, or a carve out an area to establish your own place. cpw, throw in your two cents.

TAL
UHCO-1

 

[cpw]

Originally posted by TAL
eyecare,

Here is a link for a fairly recent study of the number of optometrist in Texas by city.

http://srph.brc.tamus.edu/html/opt-totals.pdf

As you can see, Houston has around 335 optometrists, as opposed to Dallas, which has 109 optometrists yet is similar in size to Houston. You can draw your own conclusions, but to me, this would indicate that Houston is fairly saturated with OD's. This can probably be attributed to the fact that the school is in Houston. With that said, there are always opportunities floating around, mostly commercial work. You would probably have to put in a good amount of work to either find a private practice to join, or a carve out an area to establish your own place. cpw, throw in your two cents.

TAL
UHCO-1

well, Dallas seems to have less on paper.. but if you know the towns around DFW you can see that they have almost as many as Houston. houston just has a larger metro area. If you look at Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson, Plano, Flower Mound, Irving, and Arlington together.. they're llooking at close to 300 ODs too. Jobs are there if you hunt for them. Like TAL said jobs are few and far between in towns where there's an optometry school. (LA especially)

If you're willing to work commercial or part time.. I'm sure you can find work until something you really want comes around. It just might take longer to find the kind of practice you really want.