Eyedolatry

Managing the New Grad Challenge: So Now You Have Money

You probably didn't see this one coming, but one of the biggest challenges new optometrists face is having an income for the first time. Living on loans for so many years of school, your first paycheck is an amazing luxury. And then every 2 weeks you get another one. But having an income can be a serious trap; we've all worked hard to get to this place where we finally can do things, buy things, travel, eat out, buy a new doctor appropriate wardrobe. With the luxury of having money for the first time comes a new problem -- you need to decide what to do with it. There is a strange paradox of having a great paycheck coming in (feeling you've made it!), but being deeply in debt from undergrad and professional school loans (nope, actually you are really, seriously broke still). Managing your money properly in those first few years after getting your first job can set the stage for your future financial success. Today's guest is Dr. Syed Hussain, the writer behind the informative and extremely readable financial strategies blog for professional students, The Broke Professional. A 2009 graduate from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University, Dr. Hussain has worked in nearly every type of modality of eyecare. He saw himself and fellow classmates struggle with financial decision making and planning after graduating, despite having good paychecks, and decided to do something about it!

Dr. Syed Hussain

Why did you decide on optometry?
I come from a family of pharmacists which drove me to optometry since they warned me not to become a pharmacist. All joking aside, I always wanted to work in the healthcare field and wanted a position that wasn't super stressful, has plenty of practice options and great income potential. Optometry seemed like the best choice to me and still does.

Why did you start blogging?

My blog is primarily a personal finance blog, a subject which I knew nearly nothing about when I graduated. After some self education at my library and online, I found I really enjoyed the subject. Talking with a lot of my colleagues and other young professionals, I also found that the vast majority of them were making huge and obvious financial mistakes that could be easily remedied.

I started my blog with these people in mind; young professionals who had great career and income, but were almost clueless when it comes to finances. I felt we spent all these years studying and struggling to get into well paying and stable professions so it is essential to ensure we are making sound financial decisions and staying away from huge financial blunders.

What's the biggest initial financial mistake new grads make?

By far the biggest financial mistake I've seen people make is inflating their lifestyle way too much once they start working. Just because you make a certain income, it doesn't mean you have to spend that income. Leasing luxury cars and buying new homes is great, but I would caution not to make big purchases like that right after school.

There are lots of expenses for new grads, including student loan payments, transportation, rent, clothes, association dues etc. Keeping these expenses to a minimum is crucial in the first few years of working, as this will set the stage for the rest of your financial life. Continue to live like a student for 2-3 years after graduation and get your financial house in order by paying off debt and saving money for an emergency fund or house down payment.

You've worked in private and corporate settings. What made you to decide corporate optometry was right for you?
I have been working full time in a corporate setting since 2010. I enjoy corporate practice because I can still fully treat patients how I'd like and have free time outside of work to spend time with family and pursue my other passions (like blogging!).

What percentage of your paycheck should you put towards student loans?

Like the answer to many personal finance questions, it depends. There is no one number that works for everyone. I know new grads who devote all of their disposable income towards student loans and want to get rid of them ASAP. I know others who have other obligations that come first and just do the minimum on their student loans. I recommend something in the middle depending on your tolerance of having debt. If you have student loans at 2% that you're attacking aggressively (just an example) and are not contributing anything towards retirement, then you might want to shift some of that spending towards retirement so you can let those contributions compound over time. Whatever extra you decide to put towards your loans, make sure it's towards the principal of the loan with the highest interest rate.

How long after graduation should you be debt free?

Again, it depends. Student loans aren't the worst loans to have as the interest rates are pretty low compared to other types of loans, and interest payments may be tax deductible. But I wouldn't take the whole 25 or so years to pay them off because you will be paying a lot of interest over that time. It also depends on the amount of indebtedness after school. Some people have debt well into $200,000. To get rid of that in 5 years is probably not realistic. There are a lot of good calculators and services (Ready For Zero is a great one) which will show you when your loans will be paid off depending on how much extra you pay. I would recommend playing with these calculators and find a comfortable time frame to pay them off. Then be consistent and plug away!

Head to The Broke Professional for full articles by Dr. Hussain

What should new grads prioritize besides student loans?

It's really important to pay off student loans, but not at the expense of other things. The biggest asset for most OD's is their income, and how to handle catastrophic situations where your income is not there. Whether working for a company or being out on your own, disability insurance is important for income replacement in the case of an injury or illness that puts you out of work for a while. Next I would consider life insurance, especially if you have a family to support. This will help your loved ones in case the worst happens. Life insurance is pretty cheap, especially if you're young. Once the catastrophic situations are taken care of, it's important to at least save something for retirement. Retirement is the last thing on most new grads mind, but it makes it even more important to contribute early since it gives more time for your contributions to grow. Investing can be complicated, so I recommend new grads do some research and read some great books and blogs. But the two things that effect investment returns the most are contribution rate and time to grow. So contribute early and often in your career.

What can student doctors do before graduation to prepare themselves financially?

I have to admit, when I was in optometry school I didn't really think about financial issues. With exams and practicals around every corner, there was no time for anything else. But during four years of school, I know I could have done a little more to prepare myself. Self education is essential, so get your hands on some good books. A couple of good ones to start with are The Richest Man in Babylon and The Millionaire Next Door. They will teach you how to keep more of your money and get you started in thinking about personal finance. Also, talk with OD's who are already a few years in! Much wisdom can be had from those who have been through what you have. Shameless plug: you can contact me via my blog and ask me any questions you may have. It's obviously very important to do well in school, but having a semblance of a financial plan in place will give you a great head start.

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Take it All Off: We Love Eyes Delivers All-Natural Make-Up Removal

Dr. Tanya Gill 7:44 AM

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Negotiation Strategies with Dr. Mark Phebus

#womeninfocus 8:11 AM

Negotiation can be so intimidating for new doctors, so I was thrilled to get a chance to pick the brain of optometrist Mark Phebus, the expert behind 20/20 Consulting. Wouldn't it be great if you had your own personal coach with years of negotiating experience to guide you through your contract and help find ways to maximize your offer? That's Mark. He's a graduate of Indiana University School of Optometry with a residency in primary care and ocular disease and now practices in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since he began practicing, he's worked in both private and corporate practice optometry, and learned firsthand the importance of negotiating his own contract in the trenches of these experiences. He sat down with us to answer a few questions about how to make the most of your negotiation.

What inspired you to start consulting?

In all honestly, it started from me learning from my own mistakes. For my very first contract, I made the worst negotiating mistake possible. I didn’t try to negotiate at all! However, I negotiated pretty aggressively for my next two jobs, and I enjoyed the process and the results. Shortly thereafter, I ended up helping a good friend of mine with her contract just as a favor. She was scared to negotiate for fear of seeming greedy and having her job offer rescinded. However, after coaching her through the process, she realized it didn’t have to be scary and accepted an offer significantly higher than the original offer. Through helping her and from my own experience, I realized I had an idea for a company that could help a lot of students, residents, and young ODs negotiate their employment contracts.

What are common mistakes you see doctors, especially young female ODs, making in the negotiating process?

The biggest mistake that is made BY FAR is simply not attempting to negotiate at all. Not negotiating is probably a 50/50 split between fear and ignorance. I am trying to be the pied piper making every optometrist know that negotiating is not only an option but it's expected! Negotiating is a lot like dating. The worst they can say is no! No one ever regrets taking a shot. We regret being too scared to try. Our culture as a whole generally creates an environment where young females are expected to be proper and sweet. But when your business is at stake it's ok to separate from your normal comfort level in order to get what you deserve! I enjoy coaching that confidence into optometrists. That fear gets turned on its head and becomes a strength when you are armed with the right knowledge of how to approach the negotiation.

How often in your experience are doctors able to negotiate for a higher starting salary when they ask?

Every time. 100%. Although I don't just help negotiate salary. Most salary offers are competitive and only need minor tweaking. Benefits are much more important. Benefits can add up to 10 or 15 thousand dollars annually just by knowing what to ask for. Having a good salary but few paid days off is pretty common in initial offers. Let's be honest, we've all worked our tails off for 20 years to get where we are and we all deserve a paid vacation or two throughout the year! Paid leave is the most overlooked and under-appreciated benefit there is, especially for young female ODs who plan on having kids in the near future. Having lots of paid leave can help offset not having paid maternity leave as an employed optometrist.

Are there certain items that employers tend to be less willing to negotiate on (vacation days, non compete clauses, etc)?

Everything is negotiable. Nothing is off the table until you sign on the line. Paid leave and medical benefits are the hardest to negotiate. Employers within optometry tend to offer lower paid leave because it costs them money to pay you not to work. There might be a generational differences factoring in as well, but for the most part it just comes down to following the money. Medical benefits get a bit more complicated due to the changes that arose with the Affordable Care Act. Employers can no longer offer benefits to a select group of employees (e.g. offering medical to the doctor but not the optician) and thus this benefit became a larger cost to the practice that goes beyond just you.

If you have a roomful of doctors you'd like to inspire about the power of negotiation, what 3 things would you tell them?

If you are a female and you don't negotiate, you are contributing to the gender wage gap! It isn't just about you when you negotiate. Especially in corporate optometry, you can raise the bar on what is an acceptable offer for every doctor that comes after you. It becomes a great feeling to know you are both helping yourself and the profession.
Business insider recently estimated that the cost of not negotiating your entire life will amount to a loss of $1 million. $1 million! Go get your million back!
Whenever you negotiate and begin discussing money, you learn a lot about your employer. That can be both good and bad. But you want to know your employer before you begin working with them. And if they are willing to invest in you, then you know have found a great opportunity and have an employer who truly believes in you.

Are you looking for help negotiating your contract? Mark offers consultation through every step of the negotiation process, so reach out if you need a mentor in this process!

Mark Phebus, OD

Founder & CEO of 20/20 Consulting

(770) 548-6667

www.2020consultingOD.com

2020consultingod@gmail.com

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Women in Focus: Negotiating Salary

female optometrist 10:58 PM

Why do men make so much more than women in our profession, even in our very first jobs where experience is on a level playing field? Negotiating the initial salary offer is the most important thing female optometrists can do to close the gender pay gulf (gap is kind of an understatement after Review of Optometry reported a 68% gender pay difference across full-time ODs in 2015). Men are asking for more pay, right from the first offer. In fact, studies show about 50% of male professional students negotiate their initial salary offer, but only 12.5% of female students do. So if you are wanting fair pay, the very first item on your to-do list needs to be understanding that the first offer is just that, an offer; negotiation expected.

64.6% of all new graduates were female in 2014 which means now more than ever we need to make strides to close the gender pay gap in our profession. photo is my 2011 graduating class from the Southern College of Optometry

Why Don't Women Negotiate?

If you ask a room of successful, intelligent women this question, you'll see very similar answers. We most often don't negotiate due to fear of offending or upsetting our future employer. It's called the "social cost" of negotiating -- the fear that there will be backlash or that our employer's opinions of us will be negatively impacted because we countered for a higher salary. And horrifyingly enough, studies prove those fears are real. Women are on average judged more negatively than men for negotiating their salary, by both female and male employers. But how you negotiate can make all the difference. Simply asking for more pay may result in negative impressions, but research shows employers respond very favorably to females negotiating for a cause or on behalf of others. How can you turn what you want (more pay) into an argument for mutual success for yourself and your employer? That's the art of the successful negotiation.

What You Can Do For Them (Relational Negotiating)

Think about what your employer needs in a new doctor. Check out their website and social media accounts. What specialty are they missing? What (if any) marketing strategy do they have? You are more than a warm body spinning a phoropter wheel, and the unique assets you can provide for your new employer are what will earn you that coveted paycheck. Here are some ideas for skills you can offer during negotiation that will make you an asset worth investing in:

Experience: Did you complete a residency? How long have you been working? Often times job postings are listed with new grads in mind so a doc bringing years of experience would be able to leverage that for a better initial offer. If you are a new grad, there is still a chance you can advocate for yourself as bringing more experience that an average candidate despite your lack of prior work history or higher training. Did you extern at a highly competitive or challenging environment? Completing externships at VA hospitals or clinics offering specialization in pediatrics or brain trauma treatment can give you experiences that even older doctors can't match. How many patients did you see during your externships? Keep a log of the number of total patients you saw (I know it is tedious, but just keep a spreadsheet going that you update daily during your rotations). You may surprise yourself (and your employer) by how many patients you have already cared for, despite your lack of traditional work experience as a new grad.
Specialties: Does your employer have interest in bulding specialty contact lens services, pediatrics, vision therapy, or low vision? Even if you haven't actually had experience in these areas, just telling your employer that you are interested in developing that area of specialty to expand the scope of their practice can set you apart. Of course, make sure you follow up by talking about what training you will do (educational events, online lectures, pursuing certification, etc) to make sure you can deliver on this promise for providing specialized care.
Skills Outside of Patient Care: Think about work you did in optometry school or before that could be valuable to your employer in their office. Did you perform research or publish journal articles? Did you work in an optical lab cutting lenses? You might not be logging optical hours grinding lenses for your new practice, but even if your employer doesn't have an in-house lab, your optical skill set gives your employer confidence that you will be a great resource working with the opticians in your workplace. You can even offer to train new staff in their optical duties.
Languages: Being bilingual is a huge asset. You can build up your employer's patient demographic in whatever language you speak.
Social Media: Maybe your employer doesn’t have a passable website, or isn't using social media to its fullest (or at all). You could employ your skill set towards creating a valuable digital footprint for the company. These social media skills are increasingly recognized by employers because an ad for their office in the Yellow Pages just isn't going to cut it anymore. You'll be worth your weight in gold to many private practice ODs if you can come in and take over that side of the practice.
Technology: Are you applying for a position where they have not yet changed over to electronic medical records? The window is quickly closing on how long doctors have left to change over before penalties arise, and they need skilled, EMR ready doctors like yourself to get the system in place. As a new or recent grad. you have also just worked with the latest and greatest new technology in eyecare at your school. You were running all of your own OCTs and fundus autofluorescence cameras. Not only are you now valuable to the doctors you work for because you can show them how to use new technology to its full capacity, but you can also help train their staff on the proper ways to run this equipment for quality scans.

Want to add value to your employer's business? Specialty contact lenses have a huge demand, and can quickly grow the practice you work at with referrals from other area doctors that don't provide such services. image via

Speaking the Language of Negotiation

Now you know the parts of your optometric resume that can be key negotiating points, but how do you actually negotiate? Speaking the language of negotiation is just as important as determining the benefits that you can offer. The best negotiators know how to key in to what is important to the other side of the table. Your potential employer is going to have an obvious motivating force in looking to add you as a doctor to their team:

They want to add monetary value to their practice by seeing more patients
They are looking to find a retirement plan, and need to bring someone on to phase themselves out.
They want both options 1 and 2 because retirement is at least five years away.

When you are negotiating a contract, what really speaks to an employer is what you can do for them and their office. If you lead off your salary negotiation with phrases like “I want” or “I need” you may find that your offer is difficult to negotiate. Think of the initial salary offer you were given as what your employer would pay an average candidate. Then ask yourself, are you average? All those skills and passions that make you special and uniquely qualified for the job are things your employer wants to add value to their business. Explain to your employer how the things that you can do will grow their business and drive their revenue. For these extra benefits that you'll be providing to them, you're asking for a compensation of $X instead due to the extra value you'll be generating to the practice as a whole compared to the average candidate. Now you're not negotiating for you, but for the chance for you to help them. That's a negotiation where everyone wins.

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Ultra for Presbyopia Fitting Guide

contact lens 7:00 AM

We've been fortunate in our industry to have several new multifocal contact lenses to launch in the past year that are offering significantly better optics for patients with higher reading needs. Both the Clariti 1-Day Multifocal and the Acuvue 1 Day Moist Multifocal are fantastic lenses. But we haven't had new innovations in a monthly multifocal contact lens material in quite some time. Enter Bausch and Lomb's Ultra for Presbyopia. Built on the extremely comfortable Ultra monthly lens platform, the lens utilizes a 3-zone progressive multifocal design with a near center, gradually transitioning lens space to distance, reading, and intermediate zones. The lens also has aspheric optics for enhanced distance vision and improved ability to compensate for low amounts of aberrations or astigmatism. On a personal note, many doctors note the steeper base curve of the Ultra lens as a potential issue for proper fit on patients with flatter corneas, but I have found that steeper base curve lenses can enhance visual acuity in multifocal lenses (the C-Vue Multifocal lens was almost always superior in the steeper base curve than in the flat). As long as the lens isn't fitting too tightly to be a health risk for the patient, the stepper base curve of Ultra may also be one of the advantages this lens has over it's competition for better visual performance.

Ultra for Presbyopia

Base Curve: 8.5 mm

Diameter: 14.2 mm

Parameters: +6.00 to -10.00

Add Range: Low (+0.75 to +1.50) and High (+1.75 to +2.50)

Fitting Guide:

1) Determine dominant and non-dominant eye by introducing a +1.50 lens over best corrected vision comparing one eye and then the other. The eye that can't take the plus is the dominant eye.

2) Initial Lens Selection -- always start with the same add in both eyes

3) Like all multifocal lenses, Bausch and Lomb recommends letting the lens settle for about 10 minutes before checking vision, and dispensing the lenses without enhancement for more distance or near if possible on the first visit to give time for the brain to utilize the new technology.

What are your experiences with Ultra for Presbyopia? The lens is brand new (just launched in March 2016) so if you are trying the lens out now as a doctor or patient, the online community that struggles to find a solution for their presbyopic changes needs your feedback!

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Women in Focus: How We Can Close the Salary Gap

gender pay gap optometry 7:00 AM

Welcome to our first #WomenInFocus article! I wanted to start things off at the very beginning -- starting salary is one of the very first numbers you have to evaluate when beginning your career, and one of the very first times that being female really comes into play in your optometric career as a disadvantage. Review of Optometry's 2015 income survey showed that the average full-time salary for male optometrists was 68% higher than the average full-time salary for women. The average male OD made $171,603 and the average female OD made $117,020 last year. Obviously we have an uphill climb in our industry to close this pay gap. And Review of Optometry's numbers show the gap starts right from the beginning. The average salary of a full-time female optometrist practicing for less than 10 years was 16% lower than that of male ODs with the same experience.

via

So what's going on in our profession? I don't think that this salary difference ("more of a gulf than a gap") is a sign of overt gender bias in our profession. For years optometrists have blamed age differences (more established docs are male and more new docs with less income are female) or a female OD's increased likelihood for working part-time hours to balance childcare as skewing the numbers to look worse than they really are. But when you break down the categories to just new grads and just doctors working full time, that 16% pay gap in 2015 and 29% pay gap reported in 2014 still exist.

How can we close the gap?
First, we have to admit the gap is real across our profession and talk about it -- in schools, at meetings, and in publications. I applaud Review of Optometry for reporting their data so carefully to prevent the gap in salary figures from being blown off as skewed data like so many articles I read when I first graduated. And then as women, we have to admit to ourselves that we're doing something wrong. Millennial women are often of the belief that the feminist battles have been won. The very idea that we may be treated differently than our male counterparts seems absurd. But then why don’t the numbers support our feelings of female equality being a forgone conclusion? The easiest explanation for what we can do to close the gap is to follow the lead of our male counterparts when it comes to income - bother to ask about your pay! Studies show that one of the biggest reasons women are paid less than men is because we don’t negotiate the initial offer of pay.

Graduation day at SCO. I feel like this photo symbolizes
optometry today. Male leaders in our profession are
passing the baton to our generation of female ODs,
but are we doing our part to grab hold?

Let’s start with the typical optometry job hunt. If you have a family member in the industry, or a good personal connection, then you may be able to bypass the actual post-graduate grueling job search. But whether you are applying with a large group of doctors where the salary is often presented as "fixed" or joining up with a doctor you already know (or that's family), talking about salary can feel blatantly discouraged or even downright rude. I challenge you to rethink this initial feeling that you aren't supposed to bring money up. Salary is never a“set” compensation, or we would all be making about the same. Learn from my naivete: my first job was with a large group practice, and at my interview I was presented with a package number and wording similar to "doctors at our company start at this base salary." It was a very fair compensation, and the way it was presented really garnered a feeling that this was the salary, take it or leave it. I even embarrassingly told other student ODs I was mentoring at the time that asked me how I had managed my salary negotiations that it wasn't possible to negotiate in my position. I found out not long after my employment began that of course, not all new ODs were making the same at my workplace and I had just fallen into the oh-so-predictable "she probably won't ask" category of new hires. I'm not blaming my employers; they were just being good business men. Why pay more if I'm willing and happy to work for the initial offer? We have to look at ourselves if we are unhappy with pay inequality; we have to be willing to ask about pay, even when we think it is uncomfortable or not likely to make a difference. And who is doing the asking? Male students are 8 times more likely to negotiate their starting salary offer than female students. Ask and you will probably receive, it seems. Some of you may be thinking, well if I'm happy with my pay isn't that good enough? I get your point, but pay means a lot more than just income. Don't we have the same amount of debt as our male cohorts in this profession? So why are we letting them pay it off faster than us by accepting the status quo?

So whether you are applying with a larger corporate chain, or joining up with a solo private practice owner, make sure you view the initial salary offer as a launching point for discussion in all scenarios. Take a moment to let that sink in. Begin your job search with the mindset that every single part of the job offer posted is open to discussion, no matter what you see in print. If you don't, I can guarantee you that another doctor will and you'll become just another statistic feeding our gender pay gap in optometry. Women are taking over this profession by the numbers, but let's make 2016 the year that we become truly equal!

So now you know why we need to negotiate starting salary, but do you know how? Check back for the next installment of our Women In Focus series!

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Women In Focus

female optometrist 7:00 AM

Eyedolaty celebrates its 5th birthday next month, and it's been amazing how much has changed in the world of optometry in the short time since I began blogging. We've grown from the days of a free blogspot domain posting pictures of conjunctival cysts and bad NBA glasses fashion, to a trusted optometric resource where thousands of readers around the world turn to find new technology and solutions to their unique visual challenges. There are more resources than ever for young ODs to find their way online -- from the educational articles at Review of Optometry, to the quick and fun guides at New Grad Optometry, and the inspirational success stories at Women in Optometry.

Way back in the archives to first year and the White Coat Ceremony at SCO

But there are still many of you that are searching for answers and help in navigating this profession. We’ve received your emails and messages, and we are dedicated at Eyedolatry to answering your call!

We are focused on the next generation of female optometrists as a website that's written by young women ODs, for young women ODs. Our all-female team of docs have been practicing for just shy of 5 years,and we know what it’s like to be young and female in this profession. We’re sharing our experiences, successes, and failures so that you are better prepared for what the real world can be like for a female OD fresh out of school and ready to find her first (and second and third) job in this industry as it’s undergoing major growing pains. Over the coming months we’re delving deep into the challenges facing new grads and especially female doctors in our industry, starting with the often disparate initial start young female ODs get off to compared to our male counterparts.. Throughout this year we'll be bringing you interviews with young female business owners, optometry social media entrepreneurs, and innovators in our community. And we're going to face the hard topics head on: how to successfully negotiate everything from salary to benefits, how to "brag" without feeling bad about it (it's called self promotion!), and how to change the perception that our patients and even our fellow ODs may have about us the second we walk in the door. Comment here or email us if you have a topic you want covered because this year it's all about you. Our mission at Eyedolatry is to help millennial females take this profession by storm! Stay tuned for the first in our Women In Focus series: Negotiating the Starting Salary.

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