It really depends on what you're doing for the office and where you practice. ODs who are refraction jockeys and see no pathology in an MD setting are not likely to be taking in 6 figures for salary. Those who have more responsibility might get those kinds of numbers once they're employed for a number of years.
I know about 10 ODs who work for MDs and while a few of them are in that range, once their bonus is added in, most of them are in the 90-100K range for salary.
Starting salary for new ODs in an MD setting is not likely to be much higher than in an OD setting, but MDs are much more likely to able to hire a FT doc. There aren't many OD private offices that can justify the expense of adding a FT doc, especially with benefits. If you're a solo OD and you want to expand, it's too much of gamble to lay out 90-100K for a salaried OD w/benefits.
What's more important to realize is that we're on here discussing the prospects for current students and new grads, not experienced ODs. As the oversupply issue mounts, the value of an OD will continue to drop and hiring MDs and ODs will be able to offer lower and lower salaries. Effectively, the salary values themselves will not necessarily drop, but they will stay the same while inflation climbs and climbs.
Anyone know what the starting salary was in 1995 for a new OD? It's about the same as it is today. Furthermore, the oversupply problem is imeasureably worse now than it was back then. I can only cringe to think what the situation will be like in another 15 or 20 years when all these current newbies are out in practice. It's disturbing to see all the waste that's taking place - not to be discovered until it's far too late to do anything about it.
