Optometrist – One of the highest paying Jobs

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A career as an Optometrist is a rewarding and promising job option as it provides high job satisfaction, excellent career opportunities through various modes of practice and good quality of life.

A consultation with the optometrist has the utmost potential to change a person’s life dramatically. These professionals assess the patient’s vision and provide necessary prescriptions for glasses and contacts after a detailed examination of the patient’s eye.

Doctors of optometry (OD) are independent primary health care professionals that treat, diagnose, examine and manage the diseases, illness and disorders related to the visual system, the eyes, its associated structures and the identification of systemic conditions of the affected eye.


Who is an optometrist?

Optometrists are the professionals in the field of optometry. Optometry is defined as the healthcare field of measuring human vision, prescribing fit lenses for improvement of vision and detection and treatment of eye diseases.

Optometry career provides good job satisfaction among other careers in the medical field. It is a challenging and dynamic career option that provides work flexibility, job stability, self-awareness, societal respect, monetary benefits and opportunities with huge potential for development and a decent working environment.

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Duties of an optometrist

  • Counseling patients regarding the surgical and non-surgical methods for their visual needs and educating them about eye and general health that can affect their eyesight.
  • Identification of systemic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure that affects the eye and if required refer patients to other health care providers.
  • Prescribe suitable medications and perform certain surgical procedures to correct or treat visual health issues with treatments like vision therapy and rehabilitation of low vision.
  • Assisting patients with contact lenses, glasses and other visual aids.
  • Examining and identification of sight problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness and eye diseases like glaucoma by performing vision tests and analyzing test results.
  • Providing pre-operative and post-operative care to the patients who have to undergo eye surgery – an instance can be the examination of patient’s eye before surgery.


Educational requirements

Many universities in India and in abroad offer diploma, graduate, post-graduate and certification courses in Optometry.

  • Diploma courses of two years duration. You can opt for this course after completion of your 12th with science or mathematics stream with physics and biology.
  • Bachelor degree in optometry or bachelors in science is essential. These courses are of 4 years duration.
  • Master of Optometry and Master of Sciences are masters’ courses with 2 years duration. To get admitted to these courses, a Bachelor degree in optometry or any equivalent degree recognized by an Indian university is required.
  • After completion of B.opto, interested candidates can pursue MS, M.Phil, PhD or OD. Applicants to the OD program should take the Optometry Admission Test (OAT).
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Top Indian Colleges offering Optometry courses

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Top International Colleges offering Optometry courses

  • School of Optometry, US Berkeley, USA
  • College of Optometry, State University of New York
  • John Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
  • Perelman School of medicine, USA
  • UW School of Medicine, Seattle
  • David Geffen school of medicine, UC Los Angeles

Job Profiles for Optometrists

  • Optometry researcher
  • Professor
  • Private Practitioner
  • Vision Consultant
  • Trainee Optometrist
  • Customer care Associate
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Various Modes of Practice

  • Health care settings like Hospitals, community health center, medical center etc.
  • Managing care along with an ophthalmologist in professional settings like retail, optical and corporate settings.
  • In the military for providing care to armed forces.
  • In academic settings, providing instructions and clinical mentorship to optometry students.
  • In research facilities to expand the general understanding of eye health and disease.
  • In the ophthalmic industry, sports, government and education, providing expert advice on eye-related issues.


Salary and Job Outlook

The initial monthly salary of an optometrist is Rs.20k- Rs 40k. The optometrist can earn up to Rs 4 lakhs to 5 lakhs annually as a fresher. According to American Optometry Association, optometry offers a net average income of $143,520.

The employment of Optometrists in various professional settings is projected to grow at a rate of 10% which is faster than the average.

Since vision problems occur for most populations in their later stages of life, ageing people will cause a demand for optometrists. The number of Diabetic patients is increasing and are prone to several eye conditions that may lead to loss of vision. So optometrists will be needed to monitor, refer and treat these types of patients improving their job prospects.

optometrist

– Samiya Firdous

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