therealityofbeinganOD
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Hi everyone,
I wanted to write this post to share my experiences and opinions on being an optometrist. I graduated a few years back and have had the opportunity to work private and corporate and also own my own business.
I wanted this to serve as a warning to y'all... Optometry is not it. I repeat, optometry is NOT it.
I came into the profession very optimistic and excited since it's been a lifelong dream of mine to be an optometrist. The profession has changed drastically in the last few decades and I really believe the glory days of optometry are long gone. It's reminiscent of pharmacy and it is a very scary thought that you are going into school with these absurdly high tuition costs. The ROI of optometry school is no longer worth it. You are having to spend 200k for tuition to fight for a 100k salary. My friends in other professions are out-earning all of us. The joy of this profession is being slowly sucked out of us by corporate optometry, insurance companies, and google/yelp reviews.
Let me elaborate. on corporate optometry first. It is the plague of optometry and it will only continue to worsen. People with no degrees in optometry dictating our salaries, amount of patients we see, how we practice ( some don't like when you dilate), and now their new thing is forcing optometrists to perform telehealth visits when we are willing and capable to see our patients in person. They now want you to earn and train someone to play doctor in our place while we sit somewhere remote and put our license on the line (call visionworks, target optical, lenscrafters, for eyes, and myeyelab if you don't believe me). Corporate optometry also decreases our exam reimbursements, giving optometrists $40-45 for exams total. Essentially, the motto is to see more patients and pay doctors pennies on the dollar.
Private practice is a slightly better experience. However, the competition is crushing. Gone are the days where the optical and the contact lens sales are going to keep your practice afloat. How can you compete with 1800 contacts or Warby Parker/ online glasses and contact companies, especially in this economy? I've met so many young ODs who have started private practices and hate having their optical and dealing with the BS that comes with that. Patients have increasingly grown more demanding and entitled especially with their perceived power from Google/ Yelp reviews. We've also bent over backwards for way too long, giving up our evenings and weekends to accommodate for patients' schedules when most other professionals can strive for a work/life balance.
Overall, if I were to do it all again knowing what I know, I definitely would NOT choose optometry. I think the job it once was has completely changed for the worse and I know so many people trying to find any and every way out of clinical care ( some even going back to school to work in tech or other fields). Some of my peers working in California are earning 300-400/ day but people who are opticians can now earn 250/ day. For the amount of debt we take on and for the amount of money older PP doctors used to make, our starting salary being stagnant is absolutely insulting to this profession as a whole. I could go on and on about why optometry isn't it but if you are having second thoughts I would definitely recommend shadowing docs in various settings and really make sure that you can do this forever. Personally, the appeal has completely diminished and I know I'm not alone.
I wanted to write this post to share my experiences and opinions on being an optometrist. I graduated a few years back and have had the opportunity to work private and corporate and also own my own business.
I wanted this to serve as a warning to y'all... Optometry is not it. I repeat, optometry is NOT it.
I came into the profession very optimistic and excited since it's been a lifelong dream of mine to be an optometrist. The profession has changed drastically in the last few decades and I really believe the glory days of optometry are long gone. It's reminiscent of pharmacy and it is a very scary thought that you are going into school with these absurdly high tuition costs. The ROI of optometry school is no longer worth it. You are having to spend 200k for tuition to fight for a 100k salary. My friends in other professions are out-earning all of us. The joy of this profession is being slowly sucked out of us by corporate optometry, insurance companies, and google/yelp reviews.
Let me elaborate. on corporate optometry first. It is the plague of optometry and it will only continue to worsen. People with no degrees in optometry dictating our salaries, amount of patients we see, how we practice ( some don't like when you dilate), and now their new thing is forcing optometrists to perform telehealth visits when we are willing and capable to see our patients in person. They now want you to earn and train someone to play doctor in our place while we sit somewhere remote and put our license on the line (call visionworks, target optical, lenscrafters, for eyes, and myeyelab if you don't believe me). Corporate optometry also decreases our exam reimbursements, giving optometrists $40-45 for exams total. Essentially, the motto is to see more patients and pay doctors pennies on the dollar.
Private practice is a slightly better experience. However, the competition is crushing. Gone are the days where the optical and the contact lens sales are going to keep your practice afloat. How can you compete with 1800 contacts or Warby Parker/ online glasses and contact companies, especially in this economy? I've met so many young ODs who have started private practices and hate having their optical and dealing with the BS that comes with that. Patients have increasingly grown more demanding and entitled especially with their perceived power from Google/ Yelp reviews. We've also bent over backwards for way too long, giving up our evenings and weekends to accommodate for patients' schedules when most other professionals can strive for a work/life balance.
Overall, if I were to do it all again knowing what I know, I definitely would NOT choose optometry. I think the job it once was has completely changed for the worse and I know so many people trying to find any and every way out of clinical care ( some even going back to school to work in tech or other fields). Some of my peers working in California are earning 300-400/ day but people who are opticians can now earn 250/ day. For the amount of debt we take on and for the amount of money older PP doctors used to make, our starting salary being stagnant is absolutely insulting to this profession as a whole. I could go on and on about why optometry isn't it but if you are having second thoughts I would definitely recommend shadowing docs in various settings and really make sure that you can do this forever. Personally, the appeal has completely diminished and I know I'm not alone.