/r/optometry

Photograph via snooOG

A subreddit for eyecare professionals to discuss relevant topics in the field! This is not a subreddit for patient or prescription questions.

Welcome to /r/optometry! This subreddit for eyecare professionals to discuss optometry and related fields.

ONLY EYECARE PROFFESIONALS ARE ALLOWED TO POST OR COMMENT.

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/r/optometry

43,609 Subscribers

1

Optometry Practice for Sale in Winthrop, Massachusetts

Well-Established Optometry Practice for Sale – Winthrop, MA

Located in a premium 1,600 sq. ft. standalone building with exceptional street visibility and ample parking, this practice has served a loyal patient base for over 30 years.

Highlights:

  • Two modern, fully equipped exam lanes
  • Strong patient retention and new referrals
  • Prime location in a picturesque seaside town with Boston access

This is the perfect opportunity for an optometrist seeking work-life balance with coastal tranquility and urban convenience. DM me for details on this turnkey opportunity!

1 Comment
2025/01/14
15:15 UTC

3

When are the dates for the ABO exam?

I've been studying for the American Board of Opticianry (ABO) exam, but cannot for the life of me find when the dates for the test. I keep looking on the website and am finding nothing. Does anyone know where I can find the test dates? Thank you.

4 Comments
2025/01/14
05:35 UTC

1

Suggested Equipment ?

Hello,

We are a non-profit looking to serve the community for free and want suggestions on optometric equipment.

The primary requirement is that these need to be portable and quick to diagnose. Your suggestions would greatly help and are much appreciated.

Thank you!

1 Comment
2025/01/14
02:42 UTC

1

Burn out from a optometric technician

Hello, I am 20F located in the south and I am an optometric technician working at a private practice. I have about 2-3 years experience in retina, ophthalmology, lasers, cataract surgery, testing equipment and normal routine exams. I left the practice that used to work for due to low pay and no increase after 1 year. I was getting paid $12/hr to preform the task listed above. I was also traveling and working long hours seeing 100+ patients day. I worked for an OD, MD, and retina. I did everything including from desk. Later, I got my job where I am currently working. The job overall is pretty relaxed (I guess, not that I feel like I dread doing to work.. it feels like a lot). This practice has two offices and I work at the smaller location. There is one OD and occasionally other doctors that work there ( one set one ) I preform Pre-testing , IOP, refractions, etc. I get paid $20 after 1 year with $200 insurance and commission occasionally depending on sales in optical that I make or extra testing. However, there is only 1 tech per doctor and only 4 rooms. (I am always running clinic and if the other schedule is light I run both of them) I don’t really do anything else. There is one person for every position.. of course unless there is one person out. Sometimes I go to work even if I am sick because I got a write up for not having a doctor’s excuse when I didn’t have insurance. However, I felt like other people called out constantly and got no repercussions. Recently, I feel extremely burnt out, I can admit my performance has been worse but not horrible. I refract patients and do my job. I don’t change rx but because the OD should be rechecking but he believes I do not so he ask the patients and he takes their word and tells my manager. I dread going and feel depressed. I am not sure what to do or I’m simply being dramatic. Advise or kind words.. I am attempting to find a new job but the job market is hard .

1 Comment
2025/01/14
02:50 UTC

15

Friday's patient: ROP retinal astigmatism of 4 diopters OS, 1.5D is corrected by the cornea. The astigmatism's circle of least confusion (best focus) is a horizontal ellipse following the retinal dragging. OD has no astigmatism.

1 Comment
2025/01/14
00:44 UTC

1

Sustaining small business during maternity leave

My wife is an optometrist in Canada and owns a small independent optical and dispensary practice. I help manage the practice as well.

We are expecting a baby in a few months. She's had a tonne of staff turnover in recent months and the one optical/sales employee she has now (been there for 3 months) is ok, but nobody we can rely on to keep the business operating while my wife is away (even while finding locum or associate doctors to cover).

What do other owners do in this type of scenario? Does she have to go back part time soon after baby arrives to keep this ship on track and not risk sinking the business. Do we look for a solid manager to run everything alongside a optician?

We are getting stressed out and hoping for some advice. Thanks.

1 Comment
2025/01/13
20:23 UTC

26

Are there any optometry jobs that can be done remotely and/or do not involve only eye exams?

I am an optometrist in Canada. I work side-by-side with a chain optical in a small town where I am the only OD. I am quite happy with my set-up, but I am currently undergoing investigations for some health concerns (likely an autoimmune condition), and I am completely exhausted and burnt out. I am only 33 and have been working for 8 years. I generally see between 15-20 patients per day (one exam every 20 mins) and work 5 days per week. However, lately, by lunch time I am absolutely exhausted and experience brain fog and shortness of breath due to the amount of constant talking this job involves. I am starting to feel like my patients are not getting the quality of care that I am known for. I know that reducing my hours/days is a way to scale back, but I have grown accustomed to my standard of living on my full time income and have a family to support.
I love my job and want to remain there in some capacity for as long as I am able, but I think that full time is getting to be too much for me. Has anyone picked up any other jobs (optometry related or not) to supplement their income while working full-time? Remote would be my only possibility due to my small town having no options and also my energy level. Thanks a lot!

16 Comments
2025/01/13
16:23 UTC

8

Multiple state licenses

2024 grad , wondering how hard is it to realistically keep up with licenses for multiple states? I am planning on temporarily moving for a few years but want to keep my home state license active in the meantime. Would I have to satisfy both state requirements at Academy or Optometry’s meeting? Take online and in person CE for each state separately? Am I better off just renewing my home state when I move back? Any info is appreciated!

3 Comments
2025/01/13
19:29 UTC

1

ABO-NCLE license

I’m located in California and already in the industry but I want to get my ABO-NCLE license and don’t want to discuss this with people at work,as they will know I plan on leaving when I get my license. But not sure where to begin, when trying to google for information I get a million different things. Anyone have any recommendations on where to start and what courses/books are good to start studying? Thanks for the help

1 Comment
2025/01/12
22:47 UTC

1

Removing Patient Data Before Selling my Maestro OCT

Has anyone had any experience deleting all of patient data on imagemate 6 without messing up the program? I am trying to sell my OCT but obviously need to be HIPAA compliant for my patients. Topcon was ridiculously expensive to perform the sterilization of my drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2 Comments
2025/01/13
00:25 UTC

2

Mass delete of Patient data from Topcon Maestro 1

I am trying to sell my Maestro 1 but must delete my patient files before transferring the instrument. Topcon wants 10K to "sterilize" the drive, but that would be ridiculous to the buyer. Does anyone out there know how to prepare the instrument for sale without messing up the imagenet 6 software?

3 Comments
2025/01/12
22:32 UTC

21

Friday's patient: Actually that ocular migraine was a tumor

9 Comments
2025/01/12
03:05 UTC

5

Intravitreal injections

I was wondering if OD’s are able to perform intravitreal injections for pts with DME, AMD, etc, or is it mainly for ophtham’s (MD/DO) who perform these injections?

I can understand certain states differ in legislation on scope of practice but was curious if it is possible to incorporate as treatment option for pts

15 Comments
2025/01/11
14:55 UTC

1

Camera phone and adapter recommendations for anterior segment photography

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for a good camera phone to capture HD photos of anterior segment pathology as well as a good adapter to fix on the slit lamp.

Thanks

1 Comment
2025/01/10
08:52 UTC

1

Are my goals unrealistic?

For some context, I’m set to finish my OA apprenticeship in June. I started Jan 24, this job being my first in optics and first job overall besides work experience. I work for a very large corporation with worldwide locations but I’m based in England. Since starting, I have fallen in love with the industry and how many options I currently have. The directors of my store really want me to continue working here and stay to do the Opthalmic Dispensing degree apprenticeship, which is 3 years long. Studying optometry (which was the original plan) isn’t an option for me as I went straight to work after high school with no A-Levels, however my qualifications will allow for me to take a DO->OO conversion course once I finish my degree. It’s one year, looking to be incredibly expensive and challenging, however it’s a chance for me to do my dream job. Everyone is supporting me on this - but I still have some doubts that I’m not as good at this as they make out, and they just want someone who’s guaranteed to work here for another 4 years. I’ve received multiple awards and bonuses for exceeding store targets/breaking random ‘records’, but I have my fears that it’s all just to keep me here for a longer period of time. Am I overthinking? Any advice would be really appreciated, and brutal honesty is welcome.

1 Comment
2025/01/10
13:59 UTC

29

Older ODs, How did vision plans start?

How did the idea of such low reimbursement become a thing? Older ODs please explain to me how we got to where we are today? VSP says they wont change reimbursement since 2000 and everyone is like okay? How did Optometry become so powerless as a whole against vision plans. I need to know please.

17 Comments
2025/01/10
15:25 UTC

4

Anyone apply for a Florida License with reciprocity?

Has anyone here has applied for a FL license using their new "reciprocity" rule? I'm curious how easy it was or if it's even possible yet.

3 Comments
2025/01/10
17:03 UTC

9

Grade 3 or 4 Hypertensive Retinopathy?

This image was in an anatomy exam we had, and there was lots of debate as we weren't sure how pronounced the exudates have to be in Henle's fibre layer to constitute a star, and if there was optic disc swelling. Answers appreciated :)

https://preview.redd.it/cmrb1hsj9dce1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45ea024384d0cc37842a8a2d539bc086a43ccd70

9 Comments
2025/01/09
19:58 UTC

88

What's your Mount Rushmore of annoying chief complaints?

  1. "I don't know, my wife made me"

  2. "I'm blind" (wears a +1.75 reader PRN is 20/20 OD and OS)

  3. "The DMV sent me here, I'm not having any problems though"

  4. "I started seeing some floaters and think I might be losing peripheral vision" (Doesn't know which eye, doesn't know when it started"

60 Comments
2025/01/09
18:46 UTC

59

NBEO Pass Rates: Oct 23 - Sept 24

Seems like maybe just a slight improvement across the board from last year, but overall still extremely discouraging.

Like last year, what in the ever loving hell is going on at Western University? They seem to be great at producing optometry ‘influencers’ but pretty horrible at making successful doctors. It’s borderline a scam institution at this point.

59 Comments
2025/01/09
19:49 UTC

1

WA BIO 12500 repair

My old welch Allyn 12500 BIO got knocked to the ground and the mirrors dislodged. I have the unit disassembled and the mirrors back in place. I don't see a way of assembling without moving the mirrors. Anyone have a good resource or link explaining the procedure. Maybe a manual? Thanks!

1 Comment
2025/01/09
20:30 UTC

14

Unemployed after graduation & loans due

I graduated school in May. Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to pass part 3 and failed the new PEPs after failing the old version. I’m retaking soon depending on the earliest date from NBEO. I was able to call my loan service and do a month of forbearance last month (my first bill)? I believe. I got a bill due end of this month and I still have 0 income, not deceiving unemployment due to not working during school, and I’m very scared about what happens next. I’m studying very hard and am optimistic about passing, but what do I do about this loan? I only have a little help to help get by right now, and am starting to panic that I may not be able to make payments year.

24 Comments
2025/01/09
10:06 UTC

37

Anxiety at night

Hello, my fiancé is an optometrist, he graduated in 2023 and he has been working at a practice with several other OD’s for 1.5 years now. He struggles with a lot of anxiety most nights, but maybe once a week he will have trouble sleeping because he is thinking of a worst case scenario for a patient of something he missed or regretting not doing a specific test. He has expressed to me that he feels like he is doing a bad job all of the time.

He has a really good job with great pay and hours (I was expecting he’d have to churn a few years somewhere corporate, but things just worked out well). I think he puts extra pressure on himself because he is scared of losing this really good position, especially with his high debt coming out of school.

I have encouraged him to go to therapy and maybe get back on his anxiety meds which he stopped taking 5 or so years ago. I have also tried to assure him that everyone feels like they make a lot of mistakes early in their career and that in a few years when he has more experience he will be more confident in his patient care.

It hurts to see him struggle, but I don’t know how to help and since I don’t work in healthcare at all, I worry that my advice is not the right thing. Have any of you gone through similar growing pains when you started out? Do you ever doubt the decisions you made when you get home at the end of the day? If you decided you did not want to work with patients anymore, what other avenues would you try with an OD?

Thank you for any advice

13 Comments
2025/01/09
13:34 UTC

1

Is there a protocol of trial of pilocarpine or atropine in treating accomodative paralysis?

For persistant accomodative paralysis with no history of any medication use, and after eliminating organic causes.

1 Comment
2025/01/09
16:23 UTC

1

Do you use your own condensing lenses at your clinic?

My admin at my clinic wanted to use my CE money on $2k worth of Volk lenses after asking me which lenses I wanted and I said no way jose. I told them that’s more of an equipment expense and suggested they get some for the office and they agreed to get some on their own dime.

I’m bringing my own Volk lenses that I have from school and was thinking of having an extra 90,78,20 and gonio as backups at the office since they don’t have a reliable set. The idea of mine getting lost and having nothing to use as backup freaks me out esp with the shipping times.

Just wanted to hear your opinions. The other MDs I work with bring their own and seem to be okay with that so I wasn’t sure if it was common. They’ve had a history of lenses magically going missing after residents rotate through so I think they’ve done away with freely purchasing them for providers which is understandable. Either way I won’t allow admin to use my funds for clinic expenses unless it’s specifically something I allowed and have ownership over.

2 Comments
2025/01/09
00:27 UTC

1

PP vs Employed

Just to preface...I know there are a lot of posts like these.

Currently a w-2 employee in NC working 4.5 days a week making 200k. I do 3 days of clinic in person and work 1-2 days a week doing telehealth. Life is virtually stress free, I never take work home with me and see on average 2-3 patients per hour(10-16 per day). 5 weeks of PTO.

I have been thinking of starting my own private practice within the Triangle with my husband as office manager. I know cold starts can take a few years to be profitable, how long would it take to earn more than what I make right now. The city that i'm looking in his small and suburban (8000), currently only 2 PP and no retail. The freedom of private practice is what appeals to me, id love to be able to control my own schedule, close early to go to kids events, etc.

2 Comments
2025/01/08
20:34 UTC

7

Slit lamp adjustment

Is there any way to tighten the swivel arm marked with a star? It rotates too freely. Does it have anything to do with the black pins I've pointed to with arrows? The pins spin freely but don't do anything.

4 Comments
2025/01/08
23:19 UTC

1

VSP and in house edging

Hello! I’m a tech at a private practice, and our doctor wants us to get into more in house edging to cut cost. It looks like there is an option with VSP (we typically send all of their orders to the lab) but with approved uncut vendors. Has anyone done this where it isn’t a huge hassle? Just looking to see others experience with this.

1 Comment
2025/01/08
00:39 UTC

1

S Corp Filing Optometrist “Reasonable Salary” Determination?

So based on the title, just wondering how you guys calculate your reasonable salary if you do file as a S corporation? Do you just check the average salary in the area? 60/40 split for 1099 workers? Another method?

1 Comment
2025/01/07
11:37 UTC

1

Things I need to ask prior to purchasing a practice?

I am currently looking for a good established practice near my area. Here are some questions I have for the seller. Let me know what else I should be asking

  1. Asking Price
  2. Gross Revenue
  3. Net Profit after expenses paid including OD salary
  4. Rent on property
  5. 2~3 years of tax returns
  6. Profit/loss report on Quickbooks
  7. How many years has the practice been in business?
  8. How many doctor days/hours?
  9. How many patients a day?
  10. Inventory
  11. Equipment
  12. Are employers including opticians staying?

Any other critical questions if you have, I would much appreciate it!

3 Comments
2025/01/06
01:03 UTC

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