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Optometrist salary


dreamerman

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I think after 150 is where the whole "you have more money than you are probably going to use" comes from (at least living in the City in Ottawa).

 

An optometrist starts out around 70,000 (usually) which is a great salary regardless of where you are. After a few years, it only goes upwards. And as an Optometrist, you have a HUGE range of cash grabs including different kinds of glasses; sunglasses, regular glasses, reading glasses..you have variations of contacts and sport wear like visors and prescription goggles and on top of that..you have a bunch of insurance money behind you. All of this and you still get to be called a doctor (I know thats a big motivator for the majority of us..although its not an MD). You also don't have to go through the hardships of Medical School and its easier to get into Optometry School than it is Medical School &c.

 

There are a lot of benefits to going to Optometry, I know my dad was seriously considering it. Personally, I can't see myself doing anything but Diagnosing Radiographs..thats my passion. But if someone does, hey..good for them. Its a great job, steady hours and you can be a big part in your patient's lives.

I agree with you partially. The positives of optometry is everything you mentioned plus they have the potential to make big money. If we compare a family doctor who maybe nets 160k/year and you compare it to the salary of an optometrist who probably nets 100k/year by working for someone else, then its obvious the family doctor will probably make more. But you have to consider two things: 1. The Optometrist gets a ~6 year head start if you (considering takes an average of 2.5 times for applicants to get into medical school these days + other factors). More importantly, 2. If you can learn to operate your own business and own multiple locations, the sky is the limit. You can hire new optometrists and sit at home to collect 2-10x a regular family doctor's salary. The same goes with pharmacy but obviously owning your own shoppers drug mart is a different story since it costs $2mill-5mill in the GTA to buy one these days. Anyways, my point is you can't do this as a regular doctor. I think a lot of people on this forum are forgetting these things and go into Medical school thinking there's more money there despite preferring the other fields. I hope this helps.

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opticians sell glasses/contacts/prescription goggles not optometrists

 

although it would be smart for an optometrist to own an optician business

 Exactly. Funny thing is a few years ago I went to a new place (Hakim was getting insanely expensive so I switched) where the owner of the place was making more than the optometrists. The owner wasn't even an optician, he was just some random dude with a couple 100k laying around and so he opened his own shop in the GTA and sells glasses now.

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I have a friend who just finished studying optometry. He is currently making between 105k-150k (we didn't get into the details) as a first year optometrist.

I must note, however, that he told me himself he got extremely lucky with his salary. 

Are you sure he didn't open his own clinic or get a % of royalties? Otherwise it's extremely hard to believe someone is going to pay a new optometrist a salary between 105-150k. Like there is absolutely no reason to.

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I have a silly question :) ..

Are optometrists paid hourly or is it entirely  based on how many patients you get? For example, when you get hired as an associate at a senior OD's office, would they pay you based on how many patients you can bring in?

I've shadowed a few OD's and i love the profession as a whole. But i'm a little worried about profitability of being an optometrist. I keep seeing all the "gloom and doom" threads/blogs about how with the rise of online optical sales, optometrists will lose a big chunk of their salary. 

 

Perhaps i should stop reading posts on sdn  :lol: Problem seems to be much bigger in the states. Canada "appears" saturation-proof to me, with all our professional schools being so ridiculously hard to get into. 

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

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Hey guys, long time lurker posting for the first time! I'm a Canadian student contemplating going to the states for Optometry school. I do intend on coming back to Canada but given the tuition down there, i'm having doubts about whether or not this is a smart financial choice. 

Can any recent graduates share their salary offers or job prospects after graduation? I was able to get a small sample size of info from recent grads (n=2). Both of them started at 70k in the GTA region at non-dispensing practices. I was wondering if others could share a ballpark amount as well. I know this thread paints a lucrative Optometry picture, but from talking to the new grads (again, n=2), it appears that only old established OD's are making the low to high 6 figure salaries and those numbers aren't really realistic without having your own practice (hard) or years of experience. While 70k is a great salary relative to the tuition charged by Waterloo, i have doubts about whether or not it's worth it being in the hole for ~150k by going to the US optometry schools.

 

Looking for any opinions or advice for someone in my situation :)

 

Cheers!

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In montreal, vision clinic are killing each others to get optometrist working at their place. I asked a friend of mine who is fresh out of school and he is making, I'm not exagerating here, 200k my friends. But optometry is way more then the salary guys, thats what im studying and its incredible in so many ways.

 

Peace

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I have a silly question :) ..

Are optometrists paid hourly or is it entirely  based on how many patients you get? For example, when you get hired as an associate at a senior OD's office, would they pay you based on how many patients you can bring in?

I've shadowed a few OD's and i love the profession as a whole. But i'm a little worried about profitability of being an optometrist. I keep seeing all the "gloom and doom" threads/blogs about how with the rise of online optical sales, optometrists will lose a big chunk of their salary. 

 

Perhaps i should stop reading posts on sdn  :lol: Problem seems to be much bigger in the states. Canada "appears" saturation-proof to me, with all our professional schools being so ridiculously hard to get into. 

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

You can get paid hourly or by the patient. It depend.

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Isn't optometry like dentistry in the sense that its not covered under OHIP and insurance money is involved? That way, you can make more than a family physician can? I was always under the impression that dentists and optometrists are two careers that make tons of money through insurance?

Can, but unless you're in Quebec...very unlikely. You would have to be the top of the pack in big cities.

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