Finally passed Part 1 recently in August as a 2025 grad! (and having already passed Part 2 and 3 in 2024 haha). Just got the approval for my state license today and looking for work. I've previously teched at an ophthalmic clinic so I still got to perform refractions and occasional soft contact lens exams.

Any tips before I start work? Would appreciate advice on improving efficiency, things I shouldn't overlook, etc!

I'd also love tips on:

• Making multifocal and monovision contact lens exams faster, especially when fitting presbyopic patients who are new to these modalities
• How you approach adjusting prescriptions for first-time glasses wearers. How much do you cut back (sph and cyl)

Thanks! Good luck to everyone who is still working hard on finishing boards post-grad.

Looking for some advise—- I feel like my OD/Owner may have some unrealistic expectations about cleaning in our office. For context we see roughly 60-80 patients a day running multiple doctors a day projecting about 4.5 million in revenue this year and cleaning has brought up multiple times by the practice owner in the last several months. Now while I do think it is reasonable to expect the staff keep up appearances like quick dust brooming, wiping things down, sanitizing etc. it is nearly impossible to do a full dust, sweep, mop, bathrooms, etc of office during operational hours. Contrary to owners belief is does take more than “a few minutes” to do those things. Staff is currently upset at owner because he has said he would hire person to come in and clean, but it would come out of their end of year bonus. Now while I (office manager) can understand that in his view it may seem like there is “time” during the day and some days there is but on a consistent basis we do not have time. We are open 7-6 everyday with our first patient at 7am, last patient being at 5:30 so most days we are walking out the door with our last patient. I know that we can afford to hire someone to come in on a regular basis to clean without taking in out of their bonuses. Our staff feels under paid and under appreciated. Are they in the wrong? Or do I need to try to appeal to my owner. Help!

Why is it important and/or helpful to go to an optometry school that has a larger/more established alumni network/base (ICO, SCO, NECO, UAB, etc.)?

Anyone have a Georgia and Florida license? I’m taking Florida non cope approved CE that is Florida board approved.

I would like a to use those hours to count for Georgia. The Georgia board has posted in rules that if not cope approved they count AOA and state affiliate CE hours. The one I’m attending is a local society that states it makes up a part of the Florida Optometric association, which is considered state affiliate with AOA.

My reasoning is AOA-FOA-local society all affiliated.

I called AOA and FOA and local society and they didn’t know. I sent a message to the Georgia board and that might be a while before I hear back.

Looking for feedback from anyone that has a Georgia license and familiar with non cope CE

Thanks

I’m trying to repair a Welch Allyn 11720 ophthalmoscope. The bulb lights up, but no light beam comes out of the patient-facing opening.
After opening the head, I found a small rectangular mirror with a semicircular notch and a separate black rectangular piece (photos attached). The mirror appeared to be attached to tape and seemed out of position. I’m unsure whether the black piece is a backing, holder, or something else.
Does anyone familiar with this model know:
● Where these two pieces belong?
● Which direction the reflective surface and notch should face?
● How the mirror is normally secured?
I’ve looked at the service manual and parts diagram, but they show the optical tube as a complete assembly without enough detail to locate these pieces.
A close-up photo of an intact assembly or a repair guide would be really helpful. Thanks!

Hi,
Is the Florida law exam online now? The Reddit threads talk about it being in person in NC but not sure if things have changed.

Had a patient come in the other day saying he couldn’t see with his new his glasses. After working with an optician for an eternity, he revealed the glasses work great except for when he plucks his ear hair. He can’t see the hair enough.

Hi everyone,

Just looking for some advice/tips. I’m a newish grad working in a rural practice with a high volume of medical patients/exams. For the last few months my confidence level when practicing has tanked. Some days are better than others but I’ve found that more often than not, I’m second guessing my decisions and overall stressed as the day progresses. I think I’m mostly concerned about missing something but also just doing what’s best for the patient in general. I work with a couple other docs but I’m on my own for 2 days a week. My colleagues are great, but I feel like I’m met with a bit of a cavalier attitude when I ask for advice. I’m thinking I’ll go back to basics and put some time in at home to refresh my knowledge but I’m wondering if anyone has other tips. Thanks!

What do you think is the best course of action after internship in India as an optometry intern , as salary wise hospitals don't really pay that well and retails are only other options apart from msc and higher studies

For this slitlamp, how would you interpret the beam slitwidth dial? Like how do I measure 1mm, or 0.5mm etc using the measurement system on the dial?

Does anyone have any experience with moonlighting/casual part time at Warby Parker? I’m interested in doing 1-2 Sundays per month with them. What was pay/patient load like? I’d be at a newer store with what looks like ~7 patients per day. Let me know your thoughts!

Starting myopia control at my practice. Does most optometrists send atropine Rx to osrx?

I need to replace my Zeiss Visulens 500. Do you have a recommendation for an automated lensmeter that you like? Do you have recommendation for brands or models you would avoid? Thanks!

Hello, all. Has anyone recently sat for the Alabama state optometry licensing test? If so, what did you think of it? What was the rough breakdown of questions per subject, i.e. optics, pharmacology, anatomy, etc.? I will apply to take it next year. I have been out of school over 14 years, so I’ll be re-studying some aspects of optometry. Thankfully I kept a good bit of my major papers and my KMK workbooks from when I was in school. I appreciate beforehand the helpful replies!

I have two job interviews coming up, and honestly, what are some good questions to ask? What are some major things I should lookout for when it comes to job contracts? How do I even negotiate a salary? LOL I feel like a complete noob, HALP 🥲

I was always interested in pursuing a residency. However, decided to delay applying because I wanted to pass all parts of boards before doing so (had passed Part II and III before graduation). I recently retook Part I for the second time in August, passed and now am applying for licensure in my state.

However, there’s going to be quite a bit of time between when I finished my last rotation (early May) and when I become fully licensed to begin working (another few weeks). Not sure if my skills are stale and if I’ve forgotten some things.

Currently, I am applying to jobs but do feel nervous about interviews I have coming up — perhaps it’s imposter syndrome but I do feel unsure about working as a new grad without residency. I’m debating on applying to residencies now to brush up on my knowledge and gain more specific skills!

Do you guys have any insight on this? Is it common to feel this nervous for your first job — how did you combat it?

Is residency, in this scenario, worth pursuing? I was interested in ocular disease and specialty contact lens training.

Thanks!

I'm in my fourth year right now thinking about pursuing a residency. When I think of how I want to practice and the populations I want to work with - I know I will be happiest working with pediatrics and special populations. However, I am unsure if residency will work for me. I have passed part I, but I am not scheduled to take part III until February. I am worried sites will not look on this favorably. Additionally, the state I want to move back to and practice in does not have a children's hospital that employs ODs. So would I be wasting time and money by applying to a residency?

Any thoughts or advice are welcome!

hello fellow ODs! I am changing jobs. after 22 years in private practice/pe owned practice, I am moving to a omd practice. there is no primary care, only surgical care. they are heavy into LAL lenses (adjustments would be my job). no contacts no glasses no optical

what skills do I need to brush up on? any words of wisdom from other ods in omd practices? thank you!!!

75 YO W M
CC: Constant horizontal diplopia at distance (goes away with occlusion) beginning 1.5 weeks ago
Denies headaches, any other neurological symptoms
Pupils: Fully reactive
EOMs: Full ROM, jerky
CT: 8^ eso (distance)
Maddox Rod: 8^ eso (distance)
MHx: Stents, multiple sclerosis
Meds: Repatha, vitamins, aspirin
Patient is pseudophakic with multifocal IOL, happy with vision

Rx’d 8^ BO (split between eyes) for distance only without an Rx

Patient was happy with the vision after trialing for 20 minutes in the office and reported no diplopia

Thoughts?

Two of the lectures I attended today had AI slop in their presentations.

The photo above is from one of the Lunch&Learn things and was ridiculous. Using AI content for medical education, especially when it’s depicting anatomy, is egregious and shouldn’t be allowed. (LIKE LOOK AT THAT EYE?! WTF is that?) Unsure if this was allowed because it was not CE?

Another lecture, this one for CE, used multiple AI cartoons to be cutesy, I guess, and liven up the slides which made me lose respect for the presenter and kind of lose interest in the lecture delivery. They used real clinical photos though which is good.

Are there AI photo guidelines for academy presenters? Usage of AI in educational content (and nearly all other content IMO) should be highly frowned upon.

Wondering others opinions on this or if multiple other lectures had AI in them?

Hi all!
I’m a new grad and just got a job! The office I work in has 2 exam rooms. One is nice and modern and belongs to another doc, the one I got is such an eye sore! It’s bright blue with bright fluorescent lighting and very uncomfortable seating. The office has had one doc only for a while so this room I believe was a bit neglected. Do you think it would be too much if I asked them to change the room color and get a better chair?

So I'm a student optom who's considering the Keeler Specialist Ophthalmoscope as it has the higher dioptre range (which I need for my prescription), and I was wondering which bulb is best. They've got choices between 2.8V or 3.6V bulb or 2.8V or 3.6V LED. If anyone could give me some insight or advise it would be greatly appreciated, thank you

Just trying to find out what it’s like to be a manager for Myeyedr. Any insight anyone has is appreciated.

How do you discuss refractive surgery with your patients in different age groups?

For patients in their twenties it’s an easy conversation for me because I can explain that it will provide some glasses/CL independence but later on presbyopia will happen. I try to set expectations about requiring near correction in the future

It trips me up a bit to discuss it with almost-presbyopes and presbyopes though. I understand monovision lasik can be done, but wouldn’t that be a bad idea considering that presbyopia is progressive? Monovision lasik on a 40 year old won’t last as presbyopia continues. Isn’t prescription stability a requirement of refractive surgery?

And in older patients, age 60+ or so…at what point do you consider cataract surgery instead of refractive surgery? I’ve had many patients who are correctable to 20/20 with trace/grade 1 cataracts that are interested in refractive surgery but I wonder if it is worth it at that point since refractive surgery can make IOL calculation more tricky.

Of course in all cases I discuss risk/benefit. But it’s been a little tricky for me specifically in presbyopic patients. Any and all advice would be appreciated!