Becoming an optometrist is a career move that is preferred by many, but it does indeed have both advantages and disadvantages. Optometry is the study of the eye and the diagnosis of problems such as stigmatisms and far/near sightedness. Duties also include providing correctional treatment and prescriptions to patients for both glasses as well as contact lenses.

Optometry is a very precise science indeed and as a career it is one that you should choose if you have an eye for detail and extreme precision. Most optometrists work in general practice but some choose to specialize, and whichever career path you wish to choose, there is a lot of study and hard work involved.

The Pros of Being an Optometrist

High salary

Obvious advantages of choosing this as your career are the high wages as well as good working hours. Conducting eye examinations is something that is done generally only carried out in working hours and can therefore be seen as a great career that you can happily combine with family life.

Working with people

If you enjoy working with people, then once again this is a good choice. Throughout your career you will meet patients of all ages and from all walks of life and you will receive a certain degree of self-satisfaction by helping your patients improve the quality of their visual life.

More demand

Another advantage of taking this career path is that the profession is steadily growing. More and more people are wearing glasses, and many are opting for laser surgery for vision correction. More and more appointments are made each year for vision examinations.

The reason for the increase of the number of patients wearing glasses can indeed be put down to a few factors; one disturbing one is the number of children who have vision problems after spending far too many hours playing video games. Another reason for the increase work load for optometrists is indeed simply because the life expectancy for adults is increasing each year, and almost one hundred percent of elderly people wear glasses.

The Cons of Being an Optometrist

Cost of education

There are also of course some cons to choosing a career as an optometrist. As it is a very prestigious and popular career, you may find it difficult to be accepted to study the profession. The actual time span to become qualified is quite reasonable with four years in a specialist school of optometry, but this will of course cost you in excess of one hundred thousand dollars in fees and expenses.

Hard to advance

A starting salary of around $80,000 a year is quite good, but on the other hand, there is little scope for increment once you are qualified and practicing. You need to realize that although there are rewards for choosing this for your job, your day to day life can become extremely repetitive.

Sitting in a darkened room

Working as an optometrist will involve sitting in a darkened room in the same surgery, five or more days a week. There is little scope for travel and although you can interact with your patients each day, the job could at sometimes be compared to a boring desk job, but with no nice view out of the window. Optometry is a great move for those who seek a reasonably high salary in a profession where they will be of help to others, but should not be chosen by those who wish to discover the world or the chance to move up and up a career ladder and enjoy huge increments in their annual wage packet.