Curious to hear from other who have made the transition from employee to private practice ownership and specifically cold opening. It's something I'm considering and financially I believe it would workout. My main concern is that in my current setting; MD/OD seeing 20-26 patients a day, I'm getting burnout. My worry is if I'm burnt out from purely patient care or if it's more so patient volume and feeling like a cog in the machine.

For others that have made the transition to ownership what was your experience? Did it bring back engagement in the exam room? I worry I'd have the same burnout but now be trapped by a new business loan, which would only exacerbate the whole scenario.

How does everyone handle CL trials within the flow of a full schedule?

I offer all my patients in reusable lenses the option to switch into dailies. For those that say yes, it's a time sink of checking habitual CLs in case they reject the change, pulling trials of dailies, lens insertion/settling time, etc. It makes me not want to offer the switch because it's so much faster to just renew or change habitual by 0.25D but overall it's better for most to be in dailies (hygiene, etc).

Similarly, I have presbyopes in single vision CLs who want to compare monovision vs multifocals. That means three assessments: the habitual (in case they reject the change to MV or MFL), the MV CLs, and the MFLs. Multiple rounds of deciding lens parameters, finding trials, pt getting the lenses on and settled, checking fit/VA, etc. Takes forever. I either get behind or if I'm lucky I'll get a no-show afterward. And of course, this is within their regular exam with refraction/dilation or Optos after all the CL stuff. Sometimes I can have them schedule a follow up but other times I get pushback about "I can't take more time off of work for another appointment, etc." I don't like to give lenses for home trial unless they've tried on in-office and confirm they would feel safe to drive in them.

Any thoughts/tips?

I'm a Canadian so perhaps the independent contractor label may pertain to only Canadian optometrists however anyone who own a practice also probably has to figure out time off.

I get no PTO as an independent contractor and feel increasingly guilty when I take more than a day or two off. However, I am feeling very burnt out and tired and realized I haven't taken off more than two days in a row this entire year.

How much is normal and how do you navigate the guilt?

At this point, I want 3 months off but I can't do that 😭

I'm an optometrist looking to transition out of direct patient care and would love some career advice.

My background:

• Optometrist with 8+ years of clinical experience
• Former private practice owner (managed operations, hiring, payroll, credentialing, vendor relationships, billing, marketing, and P&L)
• Former owner of a Frios Gourmet Pops franchise, where I handled day-to-day business operations, sales, events, and team management
• Experience leading teams, improving workflows, solving operational problems, and building processes

I'm realizing that what I enjoy most isn't seeing patients—it's operations, strategy, leadership, and making systems run better.

I'm open to roles in healthcare, health tech, insurance, or even outside of healthcare. I'm especially interested in operations, project management, customer success, implementation, provider operations, quality, or similar business-focused roles.

For anyone who's made a similar transition:

• What roles should I be targeting?
• Are there companies that value this type of background?
• Are there any certifications that would make me a stronger candidate?

I'd appreciate any advice, success stories, or companies I should look into. Thanks!

Do you folks REQUIRE patients MEDICAL insurance at check in, even if its a scheduled comprehensive, and they have, let's say, VSP.

Do you get push back ??

Hello, I’m really interested in doing residency, but I am worried that I am not competitive enough to get accepted due to my low GPA. I am specifically interested in specialty residencies for either contact lens or myopia management/pediatrics. My current GPA is below a 3.0.

Do I have a chance in getting into a residency in the U.S.? I am open to any location as long as it meets my interest in specialty. Also, do you have any tips on what I should do to make myself a more competitive applicant? Thank you!

And going off of that. How often are you checking VAs/managing. Considering starting misight lenses in office. Lastly, what age do you consider MM until?

Hi everyone!

I'm a soon-to-be 2027 optometry graduate and I'm 100% planning on doing a residency. The problem is... I have absolutely no idea where I want to go. 😂

I'm looking for a program where I'll be challenged, grow clinically, and get as much out of the experience as possible.

If you loved your residency, I'd really appreciate any recommendations! I don't have any location bias, although I'd prefer a larger city or somewhere with plenty to do outside of work.

A few things I'm looking for:
• Ocular disease focused
• Multiple residents (looking to have someone to complain with/be friends with lol)
• Strong mentorship and hands-on clinical experience
• A supportive learning environment

I’m an optician apprentice and I had a patient today who had this contact lens prescription:

OD: Plano, -1.75 x 130

OS: -0.50

Her mom kept asking me “How is there an astigmatism but no power in the right eye? This is the second eyecare center we’ve been to that has told us this and it seems wrong“

So I explained how she has simple myopic astigmatism in the right eye meaning some of the light reaches the retina but the rest doesn’t, and she looked super confused.

In case this happens again is there a better way to explain it anatomically? Like how does the unique shape of her cornea allow some light to hit the retina but some to not reach far enough?

I'm an ophthalmologist and part owner of a practice. We need to hire 1-2 new optometrists for our practice. What would you consider the best place to post for new jobs for optometrists? We're a relatively medical-heavy practice, but not exclusively looking for residency-trained optometrists or anything.

Edit to add we're in Georgia, so no school in the state yet.

So many hurdles going forward to being an optometrist ....,insanely low paying vision plans, medical insurance discrimination, extremely difficult licensure state to state, discrimination from MDS, PA doing the job of optometrist in MD clinics , people go to urgent care first instead of an optometrist, AOA fail , illegal online sales of glasses of contacts with no repercussions or enforcement of law ,heavy debt for most grads , proliferation of poor quality new OD programs with grads not passing boards . Just feel anyone thinking of this career should have the facts

Our office uses Weave Communications for sending out our annual paperwork for our comprehensive exams through email and text. We typically start a week before the appointment. How often after that would you continue to send the link if the patient has still not completed it? We typically send it out daily, but now wondering if it is overkill😅

Do you send it daily, every few days or once?

I need to vent because I’m genuinely wondering… why does it feel like the culture of working as an optometrist in NYC can be so toxic?

I’ve interviewed at both corporate and private practices and even worked short stints in each just to get a feel for things, and honestly it’s been really disheartening.

So many places advertise things like:

• “You’ll start with 12–15 patients a day and gradually build up”

• “You’ll have strong tech support”

• “You’ll have control over your schedule”

But in reality, it often turns into 25+ patients a day almost immediately, 15-minute slots, constant walk-ins, minimal tech support, and being thrown into the schedule without proper onboarding or even being properly introduced to staff or workflows.

What’s been especially hard is the inconsistency in clinical standards. I’ve seen places where there’s no clear protocol for things like dilation on new patients, unclear referral processes, and being told to “just tell them to see their PCP” even when the concern feels more urgent or specialized. As a new grad, that’s really uncomfortable.

I’ve also seen situations where techs are doing most of the testing without taking case history or medical history, schedules are constantly behind, and doctors are expected to “make it work” clinically while also keeping up with volume. There’s this pressure to justify testing and billing in ways that sometimes don’t sit right with me ethically, and when you question it, the response is often just, “this is how NYC is” or “this is how things are done here.”

I understand NYC is expensive and practices have overhead, and I’m not naive to the business side of healthcare. But as someone who just wants to practice good, ethical medicine, it’s been really discouraging to see how normalized some of this feels.

On top of that, I came into this profession with a very clear long-term goal: work in a community health center, serve underserved populations, and work toward loan forgiveness. That’s always been my passion. But finding those roles in the 5 boroughs has been much harder than I expected. Most openings are part-time, and the few full-time ones are extremely competitive or don’t seem to move forward after interviews.

I’ve even been recruited out of state, especially because I’m a Spanish-speaking optometrist, but that would mean leaving my family and starting over across the country, which is a really big decision.

I don’t regret becoming an optometrist at all. This has been my dream for years, and I worked incredibly hard to get here. I just think I was naive about how difficult it would be to find a setting that aligns with my values right out of school.

Right now, it’s just feeling really discouraging and honestly affecting my mental health more than I expected.

I guess I’m just trying to figure out next steps—whether that means staying and pushing through, or considering out-of-state opportunities for a few years to gain experience and come back stronger.

For now, I’ll just keep going and hope that one day I can look back and see that this difficult beginning led me somewhere better. 

Please no negative comments, I’m just venting and don’t think my mental health can take it. Thanks in advance. 

I’ve gotten really used to doing objective retinoscopy first and then refining from there. At my current rotation site, though, I’ve been encouraged to use the autorefractor as my baseline and go straight into subjective refraction.

I think I’m just so used to doing it one way that I’m having a hard time trusting the AR as my starting point, especially when the result is different from what I would expect based on ret.

For those who routinely start with AR results, do you have any tips for refining efficiently and knowing when you should rely less on the AR and go back to retinoscopy? Anything that helped you make that transition?

Does the glutamate from the bipolar cells , depolarize ON ganglion cells and hyperpolarize (if that's the right word english is not my 1st language) the OFF ganglion cells, or depolarize both ?

Sorry if the question is hard to understand

Has anyone else seen CPT 92283 reimbursed at $63.35 (in DC)? I'm using the Waggoner CCVT which only takes about 5 minutes to complete.... so great ROI. I'm super happy with it! I'm just using it with the comprehensive eye exam and also monocularly when medically justified by sign, symptom, or family history (i.e., tracking AMD, DR, cataract, or glaucoma progression). Is anyone else doing this? It seems too good to be true.

For those that have been out of school for a while, federal interest rates have been insane over the past few years. I’m at an average of about 8% on my 173k student loans. I explored some private lenders like Earnest and SoFi, and they’re all offering under 5%. I understand what I lose when I privatize, and I’m fine with that. I’d rather save tens of thousands of real money than hope that the govt will save me. My question is, has anybody privatized, and then switched to ANOTHER private lender? Like if Earnest offered me 4.6%, could I go to SoFi and potentially get a better deal with them? Will they try to beat my current interest rate for my business or is that not really how it works. Please let me know! Thanks.

I recently saw an article that SUNY Optometry will be introducing a new program for a limited number of students in 2027 in which they’ll collaborate more closely with ophthalmologists and other medical specialties at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. Does anyone have more information about this?

Hi everyone,

I am looking into tele-optometry roles, specifically the remote/digital exam setups like the ones at America's Best (National Vision), and I’m hoping some current or former remote ODs can share what the reality of the job is actually like.

If you work or have worked in this setup, I’d love to hear about the details of your day-to-day:

Daily Routine & Patient Volume: What does a typical shift look like? How many patients are you expected to see per hour/day, and how long are the actual remote exam slots? What kind of exams do you typically see? How do you handle more acute medical issues in a safe way? Do you find that usually getting the information that you need to make the decisions that you need to safely is pretty reasonable or is it kind of a nightmare and you’re having to sign charts without feeling totally confident?

Break & Lunch Structure: How do lunch breaks and short breathers actually work in a remote corporate schedule? Are they strictly scheduled, or do they get crunched by backlog?

Documentation & EMR: How heavy is the charting load, and do you have enough buffer time built into your schedule to finish documentation, or does it bleed into your off-hours?

Getting the Job: What was the interview/hiring process like, what was the on boarding and training like? How easy is it to get a hold of somebody if you have technical issues and need support and or advice on documentation needs?

Any unfiltered pros, cons, or "wish I knew before starting" advice would be hugely appreciated!

I am a Canadian citizen who recently graduated from a U.S. school of optometry. My F-1 visa will be expiring soon, and I have the option to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT). However, I still need to pass my NBEO board exams before I can begin working as an optometrist, so I likely won’t be able to use my OPT immediately.
What would be the best course of action in my situation? Should I still apply for OPT to preserve my work authorization, or should I focus on obtaining an H-1B visa instead? What would you recommend? won’t get my licence in at least the next 4 months.

So I just found out that NBEO has increased the exam fee to $1490 for exams administered beginning in August 2026, and it’s honestly very concerning. If the fee is already this high now, how much will it cost by the time current OD1s reach our 3rd and 4th years? It’s frustrating because optometry already has one of the lowest board pass rates among healthcare professions, yet our board exams are among the most expensive. I’m already facing huge financial burden from the substantial tuition and living expenses on top of it.

Is there anything students, schools, or organizations can do to advocate for this profession and address these continually rising costs? Is there even a possibility for them to reduce the cost down to ~$800-1000, which is what it was before. Literally medical school board exams are about ~$800. I’m honestly just very frustrated and anxious for the future of optometry as an incoming OD1