Braveheart, don't listen to what a lot of people say on these forums about optometry. All people do is complain about saturation, money, _______ (inside whatever reason here). You will see this trend in every forum, ophthalmologists are complaining about how optometry will take over, anesthesiologists are complaining about high malpractice insurance, and busy lifestyles etc etc etc. People are soooo worried about jobs and money. The fact of the matter is, that your job will be what you make of it. If you are hardworking and determined, you will be a great optometrist and the rewards will come, financially and personally. Keep in mind, there are a lot of optometrists out there who chose optometry just because they didnt get into med school. They are the med student wanna bes who are lazier than their counterparts because they didn't work hard in college. Watch out for these people, a lot of them post on this forum (i.e. reality check).
One optometrist that I currently work for has been a great inspiration to me. He has a Ph.D in addition to his O.D., and he writes books, gives lectures, and is involved in more comittees and groups than you can imagine. This is all of course combined with his practice that deals only with rare eye diseases such as keratoconus, cataract surgery patients, etc. He does not do regular eye exams, and since his services are so unique his exam fees are high, close to the 300 dollar range. He makes roughly $175,000 a year. But he is a special case because he is such a talented, hard working individual. Keep in mind that he works 9-5, mon-fri.
Another optometrist I worked for has his own private practice in san diego, and he makes about $120,000 a year working FOUR days a week, YES FOUR. However, he owns the office and doesnt pay rent, which saves him a lot of money. Every friday he goes golfing, and he is always able to spend time with his family, go to his sons baseball games, etc.
If it is money you are worried about, then consider this. Yes, physicians do get paid more, but this is because they are much more highly trained. You wanna be an anesthesiologist for example, you will go to med school for four years, four years of residency training, and a 2 year fellowship before you can start work. You will be well into your 30s, working 55-60 hours a week, living on the edge every day, a patient could die on you at any moment. There are sugeries, blood, stress, long hours. However, the payoff is amazing. $250,000+ a year. After taxes and malpractice insurance, that will become 140,000. Is this worth 10 years of your life studying 10 hours a day? The choice is yours, if you want to take that path, and you have a passion for it, the rewards are great. I, on the other hand, prefer to work 40 hours a week and go to optometry school for 4 years. Yes, the pay is less, you will not be filthy rich on your salary alone. HOWEVER, most rich people make their way to the top in other ways. All of my 8+ uncles are millionaires because of how the handled their money. They came from iraq in their early 20s, worked in liquor stores for 70+ hours a week for a small salary. but they saved their money, they invested. Eventually they saved enough money to buy the liquor store. Years later they would make other investments, i.e. buy a gas station and sell it for way more a few years later. Now they all own properties, like hotels, stores, etc. and reap the profits every month.
You want to be rich? If you make close to 100,000 a year as an optometrist, don't be like everyone else and just spend that salary. You have the fortune of working such excellent hours in a stress free environment. Save that money. Over the years, you will have enough to make investments and get rich that way. Just my 2 cents. Don't be scared to do optomety because of the money or saturated job market. You will find a job if you are hardworking and make connections.
