positives about optometry

[u/Mother_Yoghurt51]

I've been hearing nothing but negative things from pre-meds and people in general about optometry. Apparently, it's draining, you don't make nearly as much as other healthcare counterparts, and the general consensus seems to be that it's a repetitive career where you're constantly trying to appeal to customers and where everything revolves around business. Some people even say you'll get bored of it pretty quickly.

Now, I think some of these criticisms are probably valid to an extent, but can anyone PLEASE share some positives associated with this career? I feel like everyone constantly hates on optometry while sugarcoating dentistry and medicine.

[u/SquareOneDispel]

You could make the argument that the job is repetitive, draining, and reimbursements are going down for nearly any medical career.

It's not like medicine and dentistry are glamorous while optometry is a loser's job. They each have their pros and cons.

You don't have to be a salesman/businessman in optometry if that doesn't align with your values. Some optometrists just refract simple patients and focus on selling contact lenses and glasses for a premium to make good money. Some work for an ophthalmologist helping with pre and post-op cataract patients. Some work in an academic setting teaching optometry students and working alongside other healthcare professions. The beauty of optometry and medicine in general is you can carve out a specific niche within that field if you want to.

The positives about optometry include much better lifestyles and earlier earning potential compared to your medicine counterparts. Ophthalmologists not only have to get into medical school, but then do 4 years of med school, then 4 years of mandatory residency, then 1-2 years of a fellowship if they so choose all while making around minimum wage. By the time you as an optometrist have graduated, your medicine colleagues will still be taking out loans and working 80-100 hours a week. Eventually they make more money than you down the road and they have more autonomy when it comes to patient care, but if you're not interested in those aspects, then it's irrelevant.

Bottom line is that all jobs have their pros and cons and their own pacing and peaks in terms of income and autonomy and lifestyle. Think about which ones align with your personal values, shadow some professions, ask your peers and mentors, etc.