Best Careers 2009: Optometrist

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According To This And bls.gov It Says That You Will Make Money 100,000 Dollars Is a Pretty Decent Amount . At Least you Would Be Upper Middle Class . Depending On Where You Decide To Work , The Prices All Vary . Some Make More And Some Make Less . Dentists Are Doctors Also , So All Doctors Make Good Money To Provide For Them And Their Family That Is All That MATTERS , You Will Not Struggle At ALL . As Long As You are NOT Blowing Your Money . It All depends On Where You Work , Who You Work With , How Much Education You Have Had , The Amount Of Effort You Put Into It , and How Much BLOW !

Aari of LA 1:41PM November 15, 2011

Texas is the only state you can do optometry and make money

UT of NY 9:16AM November 14, 2011

Optometry is a very poor career. You will struggle and never make a living.

nt of LA 9:13AM November 14, 2011

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G of AK 12:07PM October 23, 2011

I just have to say you all are giving the field a bad rep!!! I am an optician and I work for my parents who are both OD's. They have been in business for 24 years at the same practice and are doing well. Its no walk in the park anytime you own your own practice... They always say about 80 percent of what they do is management and only 20 percent optometry. They love there business but have had to work hard to get where they are. I think the problem with all the complainers on this blog are that they just don't want to work hard to get anywher. They just expect to graduate from school and be rich! That's not how it works tho peolple!
To the person who was complaining about only being able to see F@ patients per week and that insurance reimbursment sucks... Well we definitely can't argue that insurance reimbursment is a joke but my dad averages about 35 patients per day and just about every one of them compliments on how thorough of an exam he does compared to other doctors they have been to. Our retention rate for the retail side of the business is well over 80 percent which is almost unheard of, but most people appreciate the quality of our work compared to lenscrafters and walmart!

Lynette of OH 8:56AM October 10, 2011

Don't be an optometrist unless 1) You really REALLY REALLY LOOOOOVE it, or 2)Your parent or someone close to you already has a practice and wants to pass it on to you. or 3) You plan to live somewhere remote with little OD competition. I am telling you because I want you to really think about it, and not enter into this with the bright eyed, bushy tailed naivete I had. If you still want to do this, great, go into this making an educated decision. I graduated from a private school optometry school with $160,000 in student loans. My undergrad was only $20,000 luckily. OD school was actually very tough to survive, and the professors failed a few students. Yet, once you get out, after all that great quality education, you're not practicing good quality optometry. All you do is refract quickly like a refracting machine, and hope you won't get sued for defering dilation or missing something because you are required to work so quickly. You know when you and your colleagues work at Walmart that your profession and overpriced degree has gone to crap. 8 years of school, and people don’t even see me as a “real doctor.” “Wow, I am going to help so many people and make a big difference in people’s lives!” Yeah, you and the hundreds of new doctors looking for any work anywhere, just to make it.
With $180,000 debt in a dense metropolitan area, where there is an OD on every corner, it's pretty tough to make it. On my student loans, I stretched out my pay period to 25 years, but my interest was $15,000 last year--JUST ON INTEREST! Then I switched it back to the 10 year plan so I wouldn't be swamped by the student interest, but now I am paying $1900 each month, which is pretty tough to make. I was fortunate to find a sublease 4 days a week with an optical chain, but those are actually hard to get too. There was a list of 50 people for one of them. I fill in at other places, like LC, Costcos, and some PP on my days off. I work 6-7days a week. I had to buy my own medical insurance, malpractice, and general liability insurance. I hardly take vacations now because if I do, I have to hire someone to sub for me. There are no vacation days when you're a subleasee.
Private practice is probably the way you can practice the way you want to, to the quality you want, and making the profit you deserve. Yet…opening a private practice in a major metropolitan area is so tough. How can you open one with so much debt in hand? To buy a lucrative one is very expensive, and if you take it over, what makes you think pts will come to you? If you don’t make enough, then what? Opening one cold would be good…except when there are ODs on every corner. Difficult to build up clientele. CLs are super cheap at Costco and online anyways. We are all fishing in the same pond. Costco subleases are lucrative but pretty much impossible--there are 700 people on the waiting list. They give it to people internally, unless you want to move to another state. Walmarts take a huuuuuge cut of your profits, and they control you a lot. Kaiser is difficult to get into too. Lux is all about pushing Drs to see more pts quickly. Obviously if you rush pts, you will do a crappy job. If you take longer than 15-20 min, they will not hire you again at LC. Yet if you miss something, guess who takes the rap? Plus you have quotas for the $40 retinal photos and pushing materials and services. When you work for Drs. or sublease for optical companies, you also must work fast, or else you will be in trouble. You defer dilation because you can't keep up with their demands. Guess who takes the rap if you miss something? Most optical companies expect you to work Sat, and are trying to move into Sundays. Yet, if you open Sunday as a subleasee but no one comes, you're in trouble profit-wise that day.
And the reimbursements from some insurances are low. Exam: $35 guardian, $40 eyemed, includes dilation. Do the math.
Wish I thought about all this when I entered OD school. Hindsight 20/20. Hope this helps! I recommend nursing or dentistry for health sciences in terms of making enough to pay your loans somewhat comfortably and still make a living. Maybe someday you can buy a house that way.

Anonymous of CA 12:06AM September 05, 2011

I thought getting an OD would be a great way to solid, stable career with great income potential. I could not have been more wrong. The days of graduating from optometry school, opening a practice, and growing a successful practice are over. Now, it's commercial/retail or gamble by buying an expensive practice and hope you survive. I spent over 200K for a degree which cannot pay for itself. I make barely enough to survive my loan payments, but I can't switch to another career since the income drop would not allow me stay afloat. Just enough to stay alive, that's what optometry offers you. Make sure you know what you're getting yourself into before you sign up for an OD degree. In my mind, a dental degree or medical degree makes A LOT more sense. No retail component to drown those professions and the starting pay will actually allow you to stay on top of your loan payments. No one in health care is coming ou of school making millions these days, but at least MDs and DDs/DMDs can make enough to be reasonably comfortable, build a future, etc. ODs, in most cases, cannot say that. To learn more about why an OD is a terrible investment for many people, go to the U_Tube Channel: StayAwayFromAnOD
1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk2YpECr9XI
2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYCo_fzXjjo

JP of AZ 9:08AM July 13, 2011

I've been practicing for 20 years and consider myself very successful. However, unless you open your own private practice you'll be disappointed at the alternatives. And the alternatives are, generally speaking, working for others or being next door to an optical chain( Walmart, Sam's, Le3nscrafter, etc). If you work for others you'll be limited as to how much you can make. Working next door to an optical can be financially rewarding (more so if you get to sell contact lenses). But if you are next door to a major optical they will (trust me) control you to some degree. The only way to make more money and be totally independent is top have your own practice. Most of my optometrist friends that have their own practices earn as much if not more than the average MD.

Jon Nekota of TX 5:20PM June 21, 2011

I'm a high school student and I'm really looking into this career field. It is the only thing that I can see myself doing, but a teacher I know feels that this profession with be dead in a few years due to the advancing technology. Another teacher also mentioned that malpractice(?) prices are driving many doctors out of the field. I don't really know what to think with all of this information, so I wanted to ask people who have experienced these things first hand. Help...please?

Nesha Larkin of CA 12:44AM May 04, 2011

I'm an OD 1 year out. My fiance is an OD less than 1 year out. We are happy with our choice. It is a rewarding career. The money is also good. I currently work at an Lasik Practice and make around 130K/year. My fiance does lease a walmart practice (5 days/week, Hours 10-6) and is also grossing about 120K right now. We are contemplating opening a private practice together in the next year. I think its a good profession, it allows you to practice how you want to. We are based in TX.

TxOD of TX 8:15PM April 09, 2011