Optometrist Career Profile | Career Advice and Help Australia CareerNav

Optometrist

Last modified: August 10, 2012, 01:33 PM

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This is an ideal career for logical and analytical thinkers. Optometrists mostly provide vision care. They examine people’s eyes in order to diagnose vision problems and eye diseases, and to test patients’ visual acuity, depth and colour perception, and ability to focus and coordinate the eyes. You prescribe eyeglasses and contact lenses, and provide vision therapy and low-vision rehabilitation.

Salary p/a
60k - 200k

Qualifications
Post Graduate

Intensity
Sitting

Demand
High

Travel
Low

Conditions
Indoor

Weekly Hours
40-50

Pros

Future demand is strong driven by ageing population
Meet interesting people
Feeling of satisfaction

Cons

Hours linked to patients availability and retail hours
Modest financial rewards for the time and effort required to become qualified
Decreasing opportunity for private practice

The Bottom Line

A medical career that is less intense and involves lower hours than other medical professions, while still offering solid financial reward. Qualifications are still relatively demanding for the rewards on offer. If you’re outgoing and like meeting people, optometry is a balanced career.

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