Right now we have two staff members who have decided to make optometry their life profession and are applying to optometry school. These future ODs are excited, and their excitement is contagious to the rest of the staff, even the sometimes complacent and burned out OD who has been practicing for years. When you employ a future optometrist you benefit from his or her hopes and dreams and it makes your practice better.

Future optometrists upgrade your practice in 3 ways:

  1. Positive, contagious attitude – Future ODs want to learn and do the best they can. Doctors naturally respond positively to this passion that future ODs bring to the practice, and other staff members will take note. If your practice has a culture that needs change, hire an aspiring optometrist to infuse it with positivity.
  2. Capacity – There is a capacity rule that many CEOs have seen in the various staff members they have employed. Typically, higher-paid individuals have a capacity to rise to the increasing demands of the office and can manage multiple tasks. A future optometrist has the mental capacity to manage higher-level demands and learn new things at a quicker pace. This is obviously not a hard-and-fast rule, but typically aspiring future ODs have a high capacity for performance.
  3. Increase the bottom line – Prior to school, I worked for an optometrist and didn’t really care what I was getting paid. I knew my employment was temporary and I didn’t have a long history of employment, so I wasn’t too picky, I was just happy to be getting real-life experience in my chosen field. Future ODs, if they were around for a long period of time, would warrant higher hourly compensation. However, since they are usually only around for a year or two, they do not demand a high hourly wage. Their benefit is the experience they are gaining by working at your office. Pay them fairly but don’t expect to pay them like a 5-plus year employee.

Hiring employees is always difficult. You strive to find someone who will fit nicely into the practice culture, and will also put patients first. Future optometrists are some of the best people you can hire. Managing a successful optometry practice begins with putting the right individuals on the team, and future ODs are a great choice.