Should I do Optometry?

[sarjasy]

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This question has been probably asked in some ways already, but here's my situation. I am early thirties, considering Optometry and Pharmacy and have begun to work on the prereq's. I have been in IT for over ten years and have been very successful, but it's just not fullfilling. I want to use my apptitudes to help people and I've always loved healthcare/medicine.

The challenge for me is this. I'm married, have two kids, a mortgage, etc. and I'm considering walking away from a lucrative career to pursue a new career. Obviously, there is risk here for me. One thing I need to be fairly certain of is that a) I can get a job when I graduate b) the job will pay enough to make all the time/effort/debt worth it.

I'm drawn to Optometry over Pharmacy because of the direct patient contact and simply the nature of the work. But with Pharmacy, there is a high-demand for Pharmacists (at the moment) meaning finding a good paying job after graduation in the area I want to live should be doable. Furthermore, as a practical matter, because I am a non-trad in my early thirties with a family, I cannot spend 10 years building my own practice nor do I want to incur the debt to buy into an existing one. It'd be awesome to be hired by a traditional practice on salary, but from what I'm reading, it looks like that's a pretty tough gig to land.

So, here are my questions. How bad is the oversupply of Optometrists? What is the job market like in commercial (no flames, please 🙂 )? Given my situation, should I even consider Optometry? How tough is it to find a job after graduation?

 

[mupreopt]

If one of your questions in your mind is, can I do it or can I make it? My answer would be yes. I know a person who entered med school at around age 30 with a child during med school and residency, she had 2 more kids with a guy who also had his own daughter. So yes, it is possible (but it also depends on the person).

 

[zyg0te]

If one of your questions in your mind is, can I do it or can I make it? My answer would be yes. I know a person who entered med school at around age 30 with a child during med school and residency, she had 2 more kids with a guy who also had his own daughter. So yes, it is possible (but it also depends on the person).

I don't think that was sarjasy's question.


Where are you located and are you willing to relocate?
Of ODs I've talked to , they all tell me I would have no problems finding a practice to work for in Northern CA, and I could easily look at making 80k for 5 days starting.

 

[sarjasy]

Where are you located and are you willing to relocate?

I'm in Arkansas, and prefer to stay somewhere in the Northwest Arkansas/Eastern OK/Southern Missouri area. NWA has grown rapidly in the last 10 years, but not sure what the market for OD's is like. NSU is the closest school, about 1.5 hours away. That'd be one of my choices, along with SCO.