Length of Education, compare/contrast, INCOME

[gochi]

Hello to all,

These are my perceptions and observations of optpmetry, PLEASE correct me if Im wrong.

During my bus ride from my school to my house, I noticed 5 dental practices, 3 med clinics and two physiotherapist practices. All of these practices were withing walking distance. However, there was only one OPTICAL practice.

I see this everyday, and it is worrying me somewhat. Is there no demand for optometrists ?

With 4 yrs of education, an optometrist should be making very close to a 6 figure salary, however how do employers have the nerve to supply close to 60k/yr for an OD.

Is Optometry a secure profession ? I know many of you will say yes, because its health related, but I mean if your gonna be going to school for 4 yrs, you should be making a substantial amount to pay off those loans. Many grads arent. Why is this!!!

Im not degrading this profession or anything like that, Im just somewhat unsure of the future it holds. No predictions can be made about optometry.

Also, there is a new school opening up which offers an OD Degree. Since there is a major saturation of OD's , as other users claim, why would person x decide to open up another school, surely the group might have a great reason, but why would they open up a new school knowing that there is already a saturation of OD's. My guess would be that they would like to decrease the amount that od's get paid ? Is this right ?


I would greatly appreciate your comments...thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Spearmint1]

close the thread, there's already one like it. Don't you read first?

 

[cpw]

close the thread, there's already one like it. Don't you read first?

why don't you just link this thread to the other thread... instead of being a tool about it ?

 

[hfpepperbean47]

I don't want to sound "mean" but it seems like you post the same things all the time. Lord, it seems to me like you are just waiting for someone to say that the optometry profession is in dire straits so you can move onto the next health profession and start other inane discussions. Dental to Pharmacy to Optometry. Is podiatry next? Maybe massage therapy or acupuncture?

 

[JeffChou]

why don't you just link this thread to the other thread... instead of being a tool about it ?

owned.

 

[JeffChou]

I don't want to sound "mean" but it seems like you post the same things all the time. Lord, it seems to me like you are just waiting for someone to say that the optometry profession is in dire straits so you can move onto the next health profession and start other inane discussions. Dental to Pharmacy to Optometry. Is podiatry next? Maybe massage therapy or acupuncture?

Gochi,

I am not too worried about the job outlook so I'm sticking with it, but if you still have some time, maybe you should take a look at podiatry (it's usually forgotten about). It's a growing field and has many benefits similar to optometry. I think the gpa avgs are about 3.3 and if you take a walk on over to the pre-pod forum, you'll hear many stories of people making 150k in their first year out. The schooling is also 4 years but there is an additional 2-3 year residency. Really depends what you want to do. If you want to operate on feet, have good hours, and give up less of your life to school (vs med school), pod is the way to go.

I think you'll find people arguing both sides--I know I have. My impression now is that those who are ambitious enough find success in optometry. I know a doctor who broke even in a year of opening up cold in a Los Angeles suburb (definitely not the only doc in town). Needless to say, he isn't very timid or lacking in self-confidence. It's really up to you.

 

[hfpepperbean47]

With 600 million eyes and an ever-aging boomer population (~40-60 years old now) = almost limitless supply of patients. If you become a good doc you'll do just fine.

 

[broadway]

Don't forget that not everyone gets an eye exam and when they do it's probably every two years. I know people that are in there 30's and have never had an eye exam. One of the people I'm talking about is my dentist. It's a very competitve market. Think about it ods, omds,opticians, walmart, target, sears, lenscrafters, nordstroms, costco, cohens,lasik,1800contacts. Theres a lot of competition. And some of these presbyopes that everyone is talking about, they just go to cvs to get there otc readers. The real world is not easy .

 

[gochi]

The real world is not easy .

Do you mean that its tough to have a succesfull private practive, or that its tough to find a place that pays the equivalent of four years of professional education (i.e after you grad od school) ?

 

[ProZackMI]

Hello to all,

These are my perceptions and observations of optpmetry, PLEASE correct me if Im wrong.

During my bus ride from my school to my house, I noticed 5 dental practices, 3 med clinics and two physiotherapist practices. All of these practices were withing walking distance. However, there was only one OPTICAL practice.

I see this everyday, and it is worrying me somewhat. Is there no demand for optometrists ?

With 4 yrs of education, an optometrist should be making very close to a 6 figure salary, however how do employers have the nerve to supply close to 60k/yr for an OD.

Is Optometry a secure profession ? I know many of you will say yes, because its health related, but I mean if your gonna be going to school for 4 yrs, you should be making a substantial amount to pay off those loans. Many grads arent. Why is this!!!

Im not degrading this profession or anything like that, Im just somewhat unsure of the future it holds. No predictions can be made about optometry.

Also, there is a new school opening up which offers an OD Degree. Since there is a major saturation of OD's , as other users claim, why would person x decide to open up another school, surely the group might have a great reason, but why would they open up a new school knowing that there is already a saturation of OD's. My guess would be that they would like to decrease the amount that od's get paid ? Is this right ?


I would greatly appreciate your comments...thanks

Bus ride to school? What are you, 15? Look, the hard fact is, life is not always fair. Think about this, vet school, on average, is about 8 years of school. How much money do you think your average vet, even many years out of school, makes? Four years of college, four years of vet school: maybe 30-50K, 70K if lucky. Often no benefits. To be a lawyer, you need four years of college and about 3.5 years of law school + bar exam. Tons of student loans, 7.5-8 years of school, and some lawyers, especially prosecutors and gov't attorneys, start off at about 40K. Physical therapists: 4 for undergrad and 3 for DPT to start off at what, 50K? Clinical psychologists with PhDs often make in the 50s. College profs with PhDs make about the same, 40-60K a year to start.

Compare that to an MBA with 6 years of education who starts off at 70-80K. Or dentists who, out of school, start off with 90K+. What about some computer people with BA/BS degrees starting at 70K+? Do you think that's fair? Sometimes you suffer through school because....it's what you want to do, and because it's building a solid future. Typically, in the end, it pays off, but it can be a gamble.

Remember, there are folks out there with master's and doctorates who make less than 50K a year! Just think about that. So, comparatively, ODs don't do too badly when looking at other similarly educated professionals (e.g., vets and PTs).

 

[Opii]

Like I've said before, if you want to make money go into stocks, finance, real estate... you gotta love your "art" like the starving actor mentality. That's the only way to be a good health care provider and don't worry, you'll make some money, just not millions... if you're expecting millions, you'll be disappointed. The people who make that kind of money in optometry aren't telling you everything. Many times they have inherited the already successful practice from their already successful fathers. I know a girl (3rd year OD student) in the graduating class after myself who is an only child of a successful ophthalmologist in her home town. I can bet you she will be making more money and finish with her debts alot sooner than the rest of us. That is just the way it is. The statistics the American Optometric Association give are flawed. Optometrists making under the average aren't even members, it is too expensive to pay professional dues when you have a 1/4 million dollar debt, you are trying to cut corners everywhere even AOA dues, most of the members are the successful ones who are skewing up that curve. Dig deeper to get the truth. There are other optometrists who claim to be raking in the big bucks but they don't tell you their net income. The gross income sounds so much better...and they are upto their foreheads in debts. They like to inflate their "good fortune."

 

[JeffChou]

Bus ride to school? What are you, 15? Look, the hard fact is, life is not always fair. Think about this, vet school, on average, is about 8 years of school. How much money do you think your average vet, even many years out of school, makes? Four years of college, four years of vet school: maybe 30-50K, 70K if lucky. Often no benefits. To be a lawyer, you need four years of college and about 3.5 years of law school + bar exam. Tons of student loans, 7.5-8 years of school, and some lawyers, especially prosecutors and gov't attorneys, start off at about 40K. Physical therapists: 4 for undergrad and 3 for DPT to start off at what, 50K? Clinical psychologists with PhDs often make in the 50s. College profs with PhDs make about the same, 40-60K a year to start.

Compare that to an MBA with 6 years of education who starts off at 70-80K. Or dentists who, out of school, start off with 90K+. What about some computer people with BA/BS degrees starting at 70K+? Do you think that's fair? Sometimes you suffer through school because....it's what you want to do, and because it's building a solid future. Typically, in the end, it pays off, but it can be a gamble.

Remember, there are folks out there with master's and doctorates who make less than 50K a year! Just think about that. So, comparatively, ODs don't do too badly when looking at other similarly educated professionals (e.g., vets and PTs).

I agree. I'm glad optometry is something I'm interested in. Research professors really do quite a lot of graduate work and don't make very much considering the amount of education.

Every day, I pass by F. Sherwood Rowland's "Nobel Laureate" parking spot (the guy who discovered CFC's were ruining the ozone layer) in the parking spot. Apparently he drives a civic. Now, who knows, maybe he just likes fuel efficient cars. As it turns out, the nicest cars on campus are usually found in the student parking

 

[leelee]

Every day, I pass by F. Sherwood Rowland's "Nobel Laureate" parking spot (the guy who discovered CFC's were ruining the ozone layer) in the parking spot. Apparently he drives a civic. Now, who knows, maybe he just likes fuel efficient cars. As it turns out, the nicest cars on campus are usually found in the student parking

Appearances can be deceiving though... I've heard of some people who like to be the "millionaire next door" -- where they actually do have tons of money but choose not to flaunt it (i.e. driving a civic rather than a mercedes)
Then you have the other way around where someone can have a nice house and drive a mercedes but be in debt up to their eyeballs!

 

[eyestrain]

Then you have the other way around where someone can have a nice house and drive a mercedes but be in debt up to their eyeballs!

Sounds familiar, minus the nice house and Mercedes.

 

[JeffChou]

Appearances can be deceiving though... I've heard of some people who like to be the "millionaire next door" -- where they actually do have tons of money but choose not to flaunt it (i.e. driving a civic rather than a mercedes)
Then you have the other way around where someone can have a nice house and drive a mercedes but be in debt up to their eyeballs!

Nice touch.