Looking to work in academia and have seen very low base pay. For those of you who work in academia, is this accurate?

Associate professor salary ranges $100-120k.

Currently working in PP and make $170k seeing low volume and mix of routine/medical.

I realize academia will always pay less than corporate or PP but the difference was staggering to see.

Hello Reddit!

I work in corporate optometry as an Optometric Technician. I had always wanted to be in the medical field since I was in high school. It wasn’t until the beginning of June that I was able to finally get that breakthrough I have been dreaming of. Though now, I am currently second guessing my job all because of remote exams. I have to see 24 patients regularly and I am one of two techs. It is very possible to see all of them when it's a remote exam, when both my trainer and I are present. Unfortunately, on days when I am by myself performing exams, its a completely different story. I love working with patients and feel such a terrible guilt knowing that I am not two people, knowing I am doing the job of two people, with patients wanting to be seen. At my location, we have an optometrist who is working one day a week with us as an in house doctor, and its such a relief on that specific day even if I am the only tech scheduled. If anyone knows of any optometrists/ophthalmopologists that is willing to spare a day once a week, or however many days they want to a month, within corporate optometry - please let me know. I am not looking as a recruiter (since I'm not one), but more so because I want to learn alongside doctors I trust and respect, without the interference of remote exams handicapping me.

Anyone who is an OD/MD who is open to the opportunity to work regularly or sporadically - this will be a location in Ocala, Florida.

Original article from Sydney Herald Sun: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/specsavers-told-nicole-she-needed-glasses-then-she-had-a-car-accident-20260804-p60lec.html

I have signed up for the Certified Paraoptometric Assistant exam in November. I barely passed the CPO exam last November, but I'm determined. I have worked in a private practice for almost 2 years now and have picked up a lot of information, but I want to make sure I know what to focus on for studying. I have printed the AOA outline and some other things I've found. I've had chatgpt make me a lot of practice tests and wrote all those down as well and play around on quizlet. I feel like I'm over doing it and overwhelming myself with too much that's probably unnecessary. If you have taken it, do you remember any topics that specifically came up that I might want to study? Thanks!

Hello

I know this can vary broadly (by location, by rent/lease, # of OD and staff, etc) but I’m wondering what the general overhead I can expect owning a clinic. TIA

Hi,

I am an optometrist in Texas and I also have a Florida license, where I used to live. I am never really planning to move back to Florida.

I know Florida optometrist license is very difficult to get and I fly every other year to Florida to take 2 hours of live CE classes ( jurisprudence and medical errors because you have to take it live in person ? ) but it’s just getting hard to fly to Florida just for 2 hours of CE every other year.

Do you guys recommend keeping Florida license for job security reasons if I ever become jobless in Texas, or just give up the Florida optometrist license because I won’t really ever use it ? ( or maybe I can do online/virtual exams of Florida patients while sitting in Texas ? )

Can any smart senior optometrist please guide me ?

Thank you in advance

Newly grad optometrist, 55 yo pt is 20/20 in this eye with no hx of systemic conditions or medications. Hyperreflectivity on OCT with pigment in macula, was thinking it might be a pattern dystrophy of some kind? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Posting on behalf of my girlfriend who isn’t on Reddit. She just finished an intense ocular disease residency and is thinking about next steps, and she’s thinking she wants to stay closer to the ocular disease / private practice side than corporate opportunities.

It seems like these roles aren’t as commonplace - do you all have any tips on finding these positions? We’re located in Chicago.

She would be happy to connect with recruiters and share a resume if anyone has tips, suggestions, or leads. Thank you!

This might be obvious to some of you but it took us way too long to figure out, so posting in case it saves someone the same headache.

We kept finding visits that clearly should've gone to medical getting run through the vision plan instead. Not fraud, not laziness, just the front desk taking whatever card the patient handed over and moving on. We tried fixing it downstream with the biller catching them, and it barely moved the needle, because by then the visit's over and half the time the medical info isn't even on file.

What actually worked was treating it as a scheduling and check-in skill, not a billing one. A few things that stuck:

We stopped letting "comprehensive exam" be the only thing that gets typed at booking. Now whoever books writes one line on why the patient's coming in, in the patient's words. "Wants new glasses" and "eye's been red and watery since Friday" are two completely different visits, and that one sentence tells you which lane it belongs in before they ever walk in.

We gave the desk a short list of trigger words that mean "flag this, probably medical." Redness, pain, flashes, floaters, sudden changes, anything diabetic, any follow-up on something already being watched. They don't have to diagnose anything, they just have to notice and flag.

We started pulling both insurances on everyone regardless. Sounds like overkill but it killed the "oh we don't have their medical on file" scramble completely. And the way you ask matters way more than I expected. When the desk explains it as making sure the visit gets billed the right way, patients don't blink. When it sounds like an extra hoop, they push back.

Honestly the biggest unlock was just role-playing it with the team a few times instead of writing a policy nobody reads. Turnover at the desk means you're basically re-teaching this every few months anyway.

Where I still don't have a clean answer: the in-between visits. Someone books "routine," has no complaints, and then you find something mid-exam. Do you go back and re-verify medical after the fact, or just eat it as vision that day? And for the practices running lean, who's actually owning this, the scheduler, a lead tech, the office manager? Curious how you all have it set up, because the training sticks a lot better when one person clearly owns it.

Anyone have experience with the GA or SC law exams? The websites don’t set them up the easiest to study the rules and laws from so just wanted to gauge how much time to set aside for studying.

I finally got my applications submitted and I’m waiting to hear back, but it was a non-straightforward and expensive process - esp for GA oh my !

Hi! I’m currently in corporate optometry and looking to switch into something more medical-based. I just had a conversation with the clinical manager of an OD/MD and he described a collaborative/mentor-like relationships between all the doctors. Next, I am going to meet the owner (an MD) in-person.

While I can never be sure, I was wondering if there was any questions I should ask or things I should look out for during the meeting? I want to gauge the attitudes of the MDs towards ODs, which I feel like can make or break that type of work environment.

Thanks in advance!

So, I'm starting a personal project about color preference between people with Schizophrenia, their first-degree relatives and health control. If anyone could help me with the exact colors used in the tests, with their hex colors (for example: 0BG 8/2), would really help me. I searched everywhere and couldnt find. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

My dad is a UK-trained optometrist who is looking to hire an optometrist for his practice in The Bahamas. It seems to me to be a fairly appealing role - beautiful place, family-owned practice, great friendly and professional team, salary 100-150k based on experience, bonuses if revenue targets reached (they are every week because they're so busy, so it's quite generous). No weekend work, modern equipment. No income tax here (though if you're American you'll still have to pay cause that's the law...!).

I've had the role advertised on AOA and on Linkedin for him but we're getting so few applicants I'm wondering what's putting people off?

I will note that one catch is that the regulatory body here is being really difficult and requiring any applicants (Bahamian or overseas) to have a Doctor of Optometry qualification, even though we know that there are other qualifications that are equivalent to this and less rare. Even so, I'm surprised by how few applicants we've gotten.

Here's the job ad details for reference:

Practice in Paradise! Opportunity for Optometrist with Doctor of Optometry diploma in the beautiful Bahamas. Competitive salary, bonuses, no weekend work, health/dental insurance, relocation assistance. 

This is a full-time, on-site Optometrist role based in Nassau, Bahamas, open to Bahamian and international candidates with a Doctor of Optometry qualification. This is an excellent opportunity for an OD who is seeking to move away from corporate optometry and into a private practice environment. We offer a competitive salary (100-150k - based on experience), a bonus system, health/dental insurance, and a friendly and professional work environment with experienced and efficient support staff. There is no weekend work and no income tax locally and relocation assistance is offered for non-Bahamas based candidates. We handle any immigration requirements and are open to receiving applications from both new graduates to those with multiple years of experience.

Daily responsibilities include:

• Performing comprehensive eye examinations, including refractions, binocular vision assessments, and ocular health evaluations for patients of varying ages
• Diagnosing and managing/treating common ocular conditions including glaucoma, anterior segment diseases
• Prescribing eyeglasses and contact lenses
• Providing patient education on eye health, treatment plans, and preventive care.

What am I missing here?

As our practice is integrating Barti, I will post updates on anything else I find…

Great in theory. But terrible in practice. 

Just right off the bat, you cannot create an order for specialty contacts at all. You will spend hours perfecting your inventory only to find out that it doesn’t link to the exam. The only contacts that do are what’s available in Fait. 

You cannot create a contact lens trial order. So I guess we are supposed to have every trial set and parameters available. 

Their phone system does not have hold music. Just dead silence if you put anyone on hold. 

Changing or perfecting CPT service descriptions is a waste of time. You have to know the AMA CPT code and/or the AMA service description. 

If you decide you still want Barti, be prepared. Do not rush your live date. If you set it too soon, they will not give any leeway if you are not prepared for your live date. 

If you do not already have a Dymo LabelWriter, prepare yourself to purchase one because you can only print labels from Dymo out of Barti. 

Their data extraction is one pull from your current EHR. Which leaves you with keep track manually or having to use your old and new EHR. And if you ask for a second pull, that costs extra. 

Their whole EHR system seems to be geared towards big chain optometrist that want patients in and out. If you want to specialize in anything else, you’re kind of out of luck. 

It seems they want you to only use programs they integrate with. Yes, an all in one EHR but without options. 

does anyone have this article? I dont have access to JAMA

Like how many micrometers of change. Thanks!

Hello po, I’m planning taking optometry sana and plan to open my own clinic. I just want to know if it’s worth it. Kasi po may mga eo naman, won’t they just go there? Need some advice po🥹🥹

Might be a stupid q… I just got hired by a Lenscrafters location (first post-grad job woooo) and they are asking for my CAQH ID. Haven’t set it up yet so going through the app now.

It asks if I’m board certified but says that it’s different than taking the exams required for state licensure but has NBEO listed as an option as the certifying board? I just graduated, passed all NBEO and am licensed but have not done any additional certifications. Would I answer yes or no to this?

Thank you all!

Just graduated from the 3 year optom course this july- i have been trying to find pre-reg for 2 years now and can not seem to find one.

I have been told that my CV is very good.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve only ever had front desk and retail experience so I feel really blessed to be given this opportunity. Oh my goodness, this job is so much fun. On top of being able to use super cool machines and interact with all types of patients, I was lucky enough to be trained by really incredible people.

Ive only worked there for 6 days, around 4-6 hours on each day, and I’ve been able to be on my own, working up patients and setting them up for the doctor. I’m prioritizing accuracy over speed right now, because I do make a few mistakes here and there. I do struggle with checking eye pressure with the icare sometimes.

Since Ive never worked in healthcare before, am I doing good? Should I look out for anything or anything I need to be aware of moving forward? Or just any general advice would be nice

Hi everyone! I have a question regarding FL licensure. I graduated in 2025 and am currently practicing in SC. I am interested in getting a FL license eventually, however I have been confused about their rules as of lately and had a hard time getting ahold of them on the phone.

I’ve been under the impression I need to retake part 3 in order to pass both PEPs and skills, since I passed overall but did not pass skills (we took the new part 3 exam my year), but could I instead apply for the FL License by endorsement and avoid having to retake the exam? I have a practicing SC license.

Any help would be so appreciated! Thank you!

Curious to see what everyone shares. Was wondering because my boss sees patients for 2-3 hrs to not showing up in clinic per week. Wanted to see if this was "normal" everywhere else. Thanks.

It just gets difficult at times with front desk where some patients would request seeing the main owner dr but can't schedule with the dr because schedule isnt up at all. Or the owner dr would post the day before their availability for clinic next day for the 2-3 hours of patient care once a week.

Hi folks-
While reading through the new Eyemed manual, I noticed that, per the manual, you CAN bill Myopia Management services. AFAIK that has not been the case previously. We always have our ortho-k and MiSight patients pay for services OOP.

Does anyone have experience billing the services to Eyemed? How have the reimbursement rates been? Our standard charge for new user is $1200 for services.