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Pharmacy VS Optometry
- Thread starter miclargem
- Start date
thehairyfoot
Regular Member
This response is a bit late. But I thought I might add a little of what I know.
I have been doing Pharm for the past year at QUT. And I am closely associated with the Optom students through common first sem units and friendships in second sem.
Pharm at the moment has near 100% employment upon graduating. Sure, it is a little tough to find registration year jobs in metropolitan areas. But it's not as if you can't go rural for a year. It is also looking like that by the time you register pharm board registration will be national rather than state based - so more cities to choose from.
Though, looking at the numbers of students doing pharm now (in SE QLD, UQ:300, QUT:100, Griffith:100) as opposed to the number of pharms retiring, by about 2015-2020 pharmacists will be facing a time when there is no longer a shortage. Thus work will really become hard to find anywhere, and salaries will probably drop. Optometry on the other hand is still under supplied as far as I know, and they are not being trained nearly as fast.
Speaking of salaries. I have been working in a shop with a few disgruntled pharmacists, and they have enlightened me about real income. Sure the graduating salary is on par with other allied health professionals. However, it doesn't climb fast or high. Even if you are a head pharmacist and work long hours. The people keeping all the money in pharmacy are the guild members. The shop owners. So, if you are looking to going into small business, you could potentially make a good income that way. A good thing to be said for the guild is that they have fought hard to keep Woolworths and Coles away from pharm, and for now luckily, you still need to be a pharmacist (to own pharmacies and) to make big money from pharmacies- so it is exclusive business if you are good at it. I worry that optometrists have not been as successful in their fight, and are going to suffer lost profits for it.
As far as respect goes for either profession it is not amazing. People know you had to be smart to get into either profession. But they don't see you as health as much as they see you as health-scientists. I have had people try and flat out deny that pharmacy is a 'health' profession - just goes to show how dumb people can be.
As far as where both professions are going; for both I can say that they will have a hard fight to justify their relevance and respect and salaries. With big business and quicker cheaper courses trying to move in, reduce costs and take the work of educated people (all in all reducing the quality of care really) you can't rest easy. However, from what I have seen in pharm, they are trying to move in on and take some of the GP's work, in an effort to place themselves as the first port of call for simple ailments. For instance, in America pharmacists in some areas have started giving injections. In university, more and more focus is being placed on pharmacists diagnosing problems and either referring to get scripts, or using one of the increasingly large selections of S3 (pharmacist only) drugs rather than simply being a shop where you get your pills.
In all, both professions have their potential problems, and their up hill battles. Though at the moment I would say optometry is the better profession from a work hours and money point of view, but I also think it is the one that can fall from relevance faster. The way pharmacy is fighting for the profession and the successes of fending off big business, pharm might be an interesting place to be provided you can find a job... really, you don't want to do 4 years of study to just become someone that repackages drugs by order of a doctor. A guild apprentice can do that. Neither do you want to study eyes and physics to merely be employed by Woolworths to sell glasses.
If you are going to go into either one, watch carefully the way the profession seems to be heading. Both health professionals are very valuable and know a lot, but they are going to have to fight to make the public aware of their usefulness and knowledge, and then figure out a way to make a living from that.
Hope this gives you something to think about. Just be aware of these possible future problems when entering the course
One more thing to note - a lot of pharmacists go back to uni and do medicine, as they learn a lot in 4 years about pharmaceuticals and common ailments, and thus gives you a bit of a leg up when going for an MBBS. Perhaps slightly more so than Optometrists due to their field being more specialised.
Michaelmoo
Member
I can't believe people even consider this when making a choice. A career shouldn't be about perception, but rather what you want.
As long as you don't put too much emphasis on it when choosing a career. If the job ends up being more difficult/taxing/boring than once thought, respect for doing it will not cut it day after day, year after year.
omg thanks so much for all this information! It really gave me insight into areas that I have not even heard of. If you don't mind could you please tell me more about "real income" - for example rough figures depending on your experience?
AznAssassin
Member
Ok, this is my reasion for choosing pharmacy over optom.
If u do optometry u have the choice to either open ur own shop or go work for bigger stores like specsavers etc. There are currently NO STORE LIMITATIONS IN ANY REGION for optometrist stores. This has so far created massive competition between different stores. I live in Brisbane and from what many friends and optometrists tell me, its getting really competitive because there is simply no restriction on how many optom stores can open in an area. Two of my friends who have been optometrists for 12 years had to close their stores to the massive competition from new optometrists as well as large stores like OPSM etc. This is just one example. Go visit your local optometrist and ask him/her about the situation (its not pleasant). And when u turn on ur TV next time, see how many optometrist ads there are compared to pharmacy ads. U'll be shocked. One of my friends works at specsavers and her salary is only like $40 000/year compared to my pharmacist friends who earn like $75 000/year (normal pharmacist NOT yet manager).
On the other hand, there IS LIMITATIONS FOR PHARMACIES IN ANY REGION. Thus, this sees nearly no competition between pharmacies as there is a government-approved quota in place to keep the no. of pharmacies that can open in an area (although there is a bit of competition, its not as insane as optometrists). Hence, it reduces competition and maintains the salary of the pharmacist. Also, pharmacy businesses are terrific most of the time seeing that ppl need medication (its a necessity). Ppl can still survive without getting glasses and having eye tests.
I haven;lt even mentioned the salaries of pharmacy managers, owners compared to optom store owners but yea, u get the point. (i'll discuss it further if someone wants to know).
Overall both pharmacy and optom r good courses but due to the recent influx of new optom superstores (optical superstore, OPSM, Specsavers etc), optometry is starting to degrade. A new optom course opened in SA and this may see more unis introducing optom into their faculty and thus, more students, more competition, lower pay etc. The pharmacy salary has been pretty constant for the last few decades and the restriction quota really keeps it going.
I hope this helps.
AznAssassin
Member
read my previous post. optom dont get better than pharmacists. It depends how good their business is through selling glasses. Extremely cheap prices from Specsavers and the Optical Superstores, oh and Big W =) will play a role in hammering local optometrists. Thus, unless u actually own a specsaver-type store or u go rural, the average optom salary is rather mediocre.
Can I just check this: you seriously know someone working full-time as an optometrist on $40,000? Are you kidding?
I finished just 2 years ago, I moved a couple hours from Bris and started on 85k, and now 2 years later am over 100. My friends who stayed in Bris started on MIN 60, and got up to 25 extra if they did Sat/Sun and had a mid-week weekend.
So again, if your friend accepted a job on 40k I really would recommend you suggest to her she find another job. Specsavers suck.
I finished just 2 years ago, I moved a couple hours from Bris and started on 85k, and now 2 years later am over 100. My friends who stayed in Bris started on MIN 60, and got up to 25 extra if they did Sat/Sun and had a mid-week weekend.
So again, if your friend accepted a job on 40k I really would recommend you suggest to her she find another job. Specsavers suck.
thehairyfoot
Regular Member
Sorry this reply is a bit late, I don't remember what forums I have posted in (btw, can anyone tell me if this site has a way of recording what discussions you are active in? So that you can revist all your posts fast?)
Anyways, Real salaries are still 'okay'. Basically from what I have heard, in your average suburban pharmacy, a fresh pharmacist (assuming the reg year is done) will earn 50-60 grand (actually a pretty good leaving salary). The income should then creep up (slowely compared to other health professions) over the years to about 80K a year (avg max for employed pharm with experience) and a head pharmacist can earn up to (up to being important) 100k a year. However, my boss, head pharm of a smaller suburban pharmacy gives the impression that they are probably not earning 100K a year. Probably between 80 and a 100K a year. The real money is in owning shops and being a successful business person. Though I can't give you figures about that, I suppose it depends on how amazing you are at business. (You are restricted to having ownership interest in max 5 shops).
Of course, income is higher in rural areas, due to demand. Incomes are slightly lower in the hospital system.
I think Optom is a little higher that pharm, as far as employed optoms go. This would be because there are still only a few schools for optom. I think entry salary for optom and pharm is meant to be quite similar, optom only looking at few thousand head start. But by the time pharmacist are earning 80K, optometrists (by accounts) are earning 100K, and so on. However, I don't know how the comparison of business owners goes....
However, I personally would really worry about woolworths advance on business, and lowering of incomes in optom...
If you are concerned about income, there are still possibilities to make 'larger' amounts of money in pharmacy. But as is the case with everything these days, to make that money you have to go country.
Anyways, Real salaries are still 'okay'. Basically from what I have heard, in your average suburban pharmacy, a fresh pharmacist (assuming the reg year is done) will earn 50-60 grand (actually a pretty good leaving salary). The income should then creep up (slowely compared to other health professions) over the years to about 80K a year (avg max for employed pharm with experience) and a head pharmacist can earn up to (up to being important) 100k a year. However, my boss, head pharm of a smaller suburban pharmacy gives the impression that they are probably not earning 100K a year. Probably between 80 and a 100K a year. The real money is in owning shops and being a successful business person. Though I can't give you figures about that, I suppose it depends on how amazing you are at business. (You are restricted to having ownership interest in max 5 shops).
Of course, income is higher in rural areas, due to demand. Incomes are slightly lower in the hospital system.
I think Optom is a little higher that pharm, as far as employed optoms go. This would be because there are still only a few schools for optom. I think entry salary for optom and pharm is meant to be quite similar, optom only looking at few thousand head start. But by the time pharmacist are earning 80K, optometrists (by accounts) are earning 100K, and so on. However, I don't know how the comparison of business owners goes....
However, I personally would really worry about woolworths advance on business, and lowering of incomes in optom...
If you are concerned about income, there are still possibilities to make 'larger' amounts of money in pharmacy. But as is the case with everything these days, to make that money you have to go country.
thehairyfoot
Regular Member
Thanks Killerbee and sealyme01! much appreciated. Given a bit more time and help like yours, hopefully soon I won't be a noob, lol
thehairyfoot
Regular Member
Thanks Sealyme and Killerbee! Hopefully with more friendly help like this, I wont be a noob for too long, lol
but the pharmacy salary is during pre-reg yr. after that it 'steeply increases' according to Gradstats. Same goes with med.
I've also read on optometry forums that with more optometry graduates now, the salary is likely to drop. what do you think?
Fair enough about pre-reg year exaggerating the difference.
The flow-on effect of any new graduates would take years to flow through (I mean 5 at the very minimum, but 10 before any real difference to have an effect). But honestly given an ageing population, and the fact baby-boomer optometrists will retire around then, I think the chance of starting salaries dropping is remote (although I admit on average optometry is a very young profession and so less people retiring than some others)
The flow-on effect of any new graduates would take years to flow through (I mean 5 at the very minimum, but 10 before any real difference to have an effect). But honestly given an ageing population, and the fact baby-boomer optometrists will retire around then, I think the chance of starting salaries dropping is remote (although I admit on average optometry is a very young profession and so less people retiring than some others)
idk, there really aren't many optom schools in australia at all. with the opening of flinders i HIGHLY doubt salaries will be affected.
tbh optometry was VERY tempting for me. it's true you won't be earning $400k a year like a maxillofacial surgeon but the lifestyle is great from what i've heard.
AznAssassin
Member
These are pre-reg salaries and it is a known fact that pharmacists have low graduate salaries. Pharmacist salaries start to climb as they work, to around $70 000~$80 000 eventually and even higher if you get to work in a hospital.
That graduate optometrist salary only applies for those who actually find a job and works for another more experienced optometrist. Often this is not permanent as the more experienced optometrist will find more fresh graduates as time goes and in most cases, you will be forced to leave the job. You will be eventually forced to open your own shop, leading to competition and thus, a reduced salary. Ultimately however, optom is a business and most of the cash flows in by making profits from selling glasses. Thus your salary will be influenced by how well you sell glasses.
Ive had experience as a student in both pharmacy and optometry. In reality a pharmacist is just a shopkeeper these days or pill counter in a hospital. Optometrists are health professionals that can write scripts under the PBS and their services are covered by medicare. True they make some money from glasses, but also from medicare refunded consults. Pharmacy was good a while ago before drugs were mostly pre-made. But the profession is a dying one (a fact) which looks bad in the future. Look up the new dispensing robots and the slash of profits on common drugs like lipitor. If its salary that intrests you, look up jobs online. I think u will be suprised at the huge difference.