Optometrist Career & Jobs: Training, Salary & Certification Requirements

Have you started to notice that it is hard for you to make out the street signs when you’re driving at night? Do you struggle to read the presentation that the teacher puts up on the board during class? It is hard for you to read your favorite recipe for pumpkin pie, even when the book is only inches away from your face? Noticing that you sight is failing is never a happy time; however, with modern advances in eye care and corrective lenses, you can easily restore your sight with a trip to the optometrist. Also known as doctors of optometry, optometrists are trained medical professionals that have specialized in the care, treatment of, and corrective equipment for the eye. Instead of writing prescriptions for medicine, the optometrist writes prescriptions for corrective lenses, whether in eyeglasses or contacts. They work closely with optometric technicians and other eye care professionals to provide their patients with the treatment they need for better sight.

Salary Outlook

Average Annual Salary
$86,400
Salary Range
$73,800 - $108,400

Work Environment

It is most common for doctors of optometry to open their own practice once they have finished all their schooling and certifications. However, some optometrists choose to work in group practices with other doctors, or are hired on by retail eye care providers. Optometrists usually work on a full time, salary basis, although they may be called in after hours for emergencies.

High School Preparation

Those individuals who think that they might enjoy the work of an optometrist are encouraged to spend their high school career mastering principles of biology, anatomy, and business management. Supporting courses for this line of work include algebra, chemistry, geometry, physics, and office administration.

Requirements

After completing their high school diploma, students interested in pursuing a career as an optometrist are required to enroll in an accredited college or university for a science or health care related major. Once they have completed at least ninety hours of the degree, they are eligible to take the Optometry College Admission Test (OCAT). Those who received satisfactory marks on the OCAT are welcomed to apply to the school of optometry of their choosing. Optometry school typically takes four years to complete, and upon graduation, students take both written and clinical examinations as set forth by their state in order to be licensed and allowed to practice.

Career Outlook

It is expected that demand for well qualified optometrists will grow steadily over the next few years. Experts attribute this increase in the number of jobs to the growing elderly population and the eye care that they will need. Future optometrists can expect about a ten to twenty percent increase in the number of jobs available.

Professional Organizations

American Optometric Association
243 N. Lindberg Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63141
Phone: (314) 991-4100
www.aoanet.org