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Has anyone regretted attending optometry school and wishes they went to another specialty? Why?
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Different specialty?
- Thread starter angelasmith
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Are you serious? We have a thread exploding out of control within a few days garnering the most views this forum has had since the days of JasonK that echoes this exact sentiment.
Look folks. Optometry is definitely a career where you won't starve. Will you be happy? Who knows. I've met many pharmacists, dentists, physicians, etc from happy, to burnt-out, to clinically depressed.
I've met optometrists who were super-humans that I thought were being held back by not pursuing something more complex [but they made their choice and that's all that matters], and I've met optometrists who were embarrassments to the profession who I still have to call colleagues.
I'm happy because:
1) I have a high paying job [on the higher end of the spectrum for optometrists; I have friends who work for $325/day as an IC, lenscrafters starts at $42 an hour, my first job was 110K with ZERO benefits, my second job was 97K with not super impressive benefits, and my current job is 170K with unheard-of benefits including pension]
2) I have good working conditions [first job treated me like garbage, second job treated me well and was also very slow, third job treats me with incredible amounts of respect and constant support, and has a busy but realistic schedule where I still get out to lunch and home on time, usually giving me 20-40 min free time a day.
3) I get job fulfillment because I like my patients [first job I saw poor people with bad attitudes, were on substances, smelled, never got healthcare and were never established so I had to start from scratch everytime, and I don't blame them because this place was terrible; second job I still had low income people but they were mostly decent human beings; third job I have full access to their other physician charts in-network, I see working-class people who are educated because they can afford to be a part of the HMO, and they are humble, grateful people]
4) I have a contract that ensures me job security and secures my working conditions/wages.
Just because somebody likes the profession doesn't mean they like their job. All three of my jobs are within 10 miles of each other. My exam content and scope haven't changed in either of the locations - I always do the same exact exam since I graduated - but I can say I've experienced the broad spectrum of working conditions an optometrist can encounter, from a stinkhole 1-star "essentially thieving" commercial entity, to a commercial entity that was realistic and friendlier albeit paying less, to essentially the Disney/Google version of optometry practice. And I've gone from being burnt-out and MAD at my first job to counting my blessings and cherishing everyday with my current job.
-----
I managed to get a good job, but I know some classmates who aren't too thrilled (but they still don't starve). Most people I know opened their own private practice, and I have no idea how they are doing because I don't ask, but I'm confident they are happy being their own boss and still not starving.
The amount of good jobs I do believe are drying up, and with more and more graduates, I do believe that your bargaining power for high wages and working conditions will decrease.
As much as I love my current job and am grateful to have gotten it, even though I love my profession and solving the puzzles of patient care, if you forced me to work my first job again for 5+ years, I'd blow my brains out.
I think every field can have similar stories. Sometimes it's not about the field you are passionate about, but the environment and culture you work in.
Edit: I graduated 3 years ago; so all of my data is fairly recent, and mostly reflects CA locale
Look folks. Optometry is definitely a career where you won't starve. Will you be happy? Who knows. I've met many pharmacists, dentists, physicians, etc from happy, to burnt-out, to clinically depressed.
I've met optometrists who were super-humans that I thought were being held back by not pursuing something more complex [but they made their choice and that's all that matters], and I've met optometrists who were embarrassments to the profession who I still have to call colleagues.
I'm happy because:
1) I have a high paying job [on the higher end of the spectrum for optometrists; I have friends who work for $325/day as an IC, lenscrafters starts at $42 an hour, my first job was 110K with ZERO benefits, my second job was 97K with not super impressive benefits, and my current job is 170K with unheard-of benefits including pension]
2) I have good working conditions [first job treated me like garbage, second job treated me well and was also very slow, third job treats me with incredible amounts of respect and constant support, and has a busy but realistic schedule where I still get out to lunch and home on time, usually giving me 20-40 min free time a day.
3) I get job fulfillment because I like my patients [first job I saw poor people with bad attitudes, were on substances, smelled, never got healthcare and were never established so I had to start from scratch everytime, and I don't blame them because this place was terrible; second job I still had low income people but they were mostly decent human beings; third job I have full access to their other physician charts in-network, I see working-class people who are educated because they can afford to be a part of the HMO, and they are humble, grateful people]
4) I have a contract that ensures me job security and secures my working conditions/wages.
Just because somebody likes the profession doesn't mean they like their job. All three of my jobs are within 10 miles of each other. My exam content and scope haven't changed in either of the locations - I always do the same exact exam since I graduated - but I can say I've experienced the broad spectrum of working conditions an optometrist can encounter, from a stinkhole 1-star "essentially thieving" commercial entity, to a commercial entity that was realistic and friendlier albeit paying less, to essentially the Disney/Google version of optometry practice. And I've gone from being burnt-out and MAD at my first job to counting my blessings and cherishing everyday with my current job.
-----
I managed to get a good job, but I know some classmates who aren't too thrilled (but they still don't starve). Most people I know opened their own private practice, and I have no idea how they are doing because I don't ask, but I'm confident they are happy being their own boss and still not starving.
The amount of good jobs I do believe are drying up, and with more and more graduates, I do believe that your bargaining power for high wages and working conditions will decrease.
As much as I love my current job and am grateful to have gotten it, even though I love my profession and solving the puzzles of patient care, if you forced me to work my first job again for 5+ years, I'd blow my brains out.
I think every field can have similar stories. Sometimes it's not about the field you are passionate about, but the environment and culture you work in.
Edit: I graduated 3 years ago; so all of my data is fairly recent, and mostly reflects CA locale
Last edited:
Has anyone regretted attending optometry school and wishes they went to another specialty? Why?
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Not many optometrists, if any will come out and tell you they regret going to Optometry school. The majority of ODs who are happy and are good to excellent in what they do might have regretted becoming an optometrist but that's after many years of practicing. Twenty or more years. No OD 5 years out will tell you they should have done something else.
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