question about rural living, over-saturation, walmart, etc

[biggs]

I here a lot of optometrist on here say that the profession is oversaturated in the big cities, but if you want to work in a rural area then you're ok. ive also heard though that walmart is destroying private practice. In the state where i live, pretty much all the rural areas have a walmart, wouldnt this mean that for someone who wants to go into private practice, that a rural area would be the worst choice?

i really want to work in a rural area, but the thought that id be forced to work at a walmart disheartens me. is there something im missing? a lot of people say the urban areas are the ones to avoid

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[Beecham]

Its becoming more and more difficult to escape corporate places. Even many rural areas have become infected with them.

 

[naearls]

In the state where i live, pretty much all the rural areas have a walmart, wouldnt this mean that for someone who wants to go into private practice, that a rural area would be the worst choice?

But, one walmart optometrist isn't going to take away all of the business in an area. Yea it could be a bit of an issue, but it that is the only corporate competition in an area then I don't think it will be that big of a deal.

 

[physicslover]

Personally, i don't know many people that go to wal-mart to get their eyes checked. All of my friends/family go to private practice. Is this just me?

 

[subtleoverlord]

The majority of people I know go to Costco to see their optometrist (I'm from the Bay Area). The ones who see a private practice optometrist go because it is the closest to their house or because they've been seeing that doctor for a long time (usually because they speak their respective Asian language). A lot of my family members have private practice optometrists do their exams but then they go to Costco to get their frames. My mother actually wanted me to do this but we decided to just buy directly from our (private practice) optometrist because he's a family friend of ours.

From my personal experience it's either learn a second language, network well, or set up at a convenient location.