As I’m sure many of you have experienced, a lot of times patients are not good at attending their medical follow ups. A lot of times it’s not a big deal, okay the hordeolum guy didn’t show up again, I’m sure he’s okay. Other times it’s some dude with a whopping corneal ulcer that doesn’t show for his 2 day f/u because he doesn’t want to pay for the visit.

Whenever it’s something vision threatening like that, I always call the patient to recommend they seek care and discuss the risks of ignoring their f/u as directed by the doc. But how often are you guys doing this? What about that dry eye patient you put on a soft steroid where you wanted to double check the IOP? Where do you guys draw the line?

I then wonder about all the ones I’m not even remembering. There are absolutely some medical cases I will schedule for a few months f/u that I know need to be watched closely, yet they never return. These patients obviously aren’t getting called about their missed visit because I simply can’t keep a mental record of every follow up that doesn’t show.

Is this something your office staff handles for you guys? How do you all handle missed follow ups? Is the initial note where you discussed the severity of the condition and scheduled a follow up exam enough to cover yourself legally?

Current third-year optometry student here! I go to a US school, but I’m a Canadian citizen. My goal is to stay and practice in the US after graduation, and I’m trying to figure out whether completing a residency would be worth it.

I can’t seem to find many Canadian OD’s who have not done a residency and are working in the states. So if there are any Canadian ODs who have gone through this process, as well as practice owners or employers who have experience hiring Canadian optometrists.

A few questions I have:
1. Does completing a residency genuinely make you more employable as a Canadian considering the cost of VISA sponsorship or is the decision making negligible?

2. How difficult is it to find employment as a Canadian OD in the US?

3. Does residency actually provide an advantage in terms of job opportunities, salary, or career growth? Or would that year be better spent gaining experience working?

4. For Canadian ODs who stayed in the US after graduation, what was your experience like? Did you complete a residency, and would you make the same decision again?

I’m not necessarily opposed to residency, but I’m trying to weigh the additional year of training and lower income against the potential career benefits.

I’d really appreciate any insight from people who have been in a similar position or employers who have hired Canadian ODs. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I am a licensed optometrist in the Philippines and im currently living in England under spouse visa.

Ive recently taken my IELTS academic exam and achieved the band width required. I will have my paperworks assessed soon but before that I am keenly interested on the differences between the practice.

I have worked as an Optical Assistant at Boots Opticians so I am quite familiar with the GOS forms and such but I would like to ask some additional questions such as what practice that i should focus and hone my skills on.

Any recommendations when it comes to practices that is a must to learn?

So I've been an optometrist about 4-5 years, mostly regional, and for the last year I've been a part owner of a practice. Honestly I've figured out I don't want to do this anymore. It's the same thing every day and I'm bored out of my mind. For context I’m
Currently on 130k plus 20k dividends per month (with a shareholder loan so only take home 33%)
I'm selling my share and moving to Melbourne and all things indicate that the process may take between 3-6 months. The problem is I have no idea what's next. I've got the degrees (BSc + OD) and I've run a business, so I know staff, finances, dealing with head office, all that. But I don't know what that translates to outside optometry.
I'm torn between two things. One is going into a different field or role and upskilling for it, but I don't know what's actually worth studying. The other is starting my own thing in Melbourne, nothing to do with opening another clinic, ideally low cost to start, using the healthcare + business experience somehow. I just can't think of a gap worth chasing.
Has anyone made a jump like this? Or does anyone work somewhere that would want someone with my background? Even just "here's what I wish I'd done" would help.