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These resources help you make your own schedule, building with a focus on part-time as well as full-time work
By Vittorio Mena OD, MS
Feb. 19, 2026
In my last article, I discussed the importance of changing your mindset and habits to be able to retire with more money way above the average American. However, in order for us to do that, we need to be able to bring in a paycheck working either full or part time in optometry.
“The current average American hourly rate as of December 2025 is $37.02,”1 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. For optometrists, the hourly average rate “according to ZipRecruiter as of February 2026 is $59.72”2 and for average Americans is $28.16”.3 Even though we make twice than the average American, there have been a lot of recent graduates that have been working part time or filling-in at various locations across the country.
However, sometimes it can be difficult to find a location that is looking for a fill in or even getting paid on time after finishing the work since there is no centralized hub.
Personally, I think our profession of optometry is DOPEEE! Stick with me here on my acronym, DOPEEE. These six platforms exist to help facilitate finding work and filling part-time openings where ODs can search. There seems to be a high demand for fill-in work in our industry, and this market opportunity is growing. To my knowledge, these are the companies battling it out and paving the way in this space.
DayOD: Sanjay Patel, OD, a Pennsylvania College of Optometry graduate, is currently the chief medical officer. DayOD operates in all 50 states with 500+ clinics nationwide and growing daily.
ODPRN: Lauren Rosenberg, OD, a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry graduate, is the founder of ODPRN. PRN stands for “pro re nata,” which is Latin for “as needed.”
Peared: Jing Alice Huang, OD, a UC Berkeley School of Optometry graduate, is the founder of Peared. Currently, they are servicing five states: California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. They are adding more states as they continue to expand and have 200+ practices and growing daily.
ECPJobs: This platform was created by the Fluorescene group with Alan Glazier, OD, a New England College of Optometry graduate. ECPJobs is the top optometry career hub, thanks to their 46,000 OD network where one can post or find jobs for free whether part time or full time.
EyesOnEyeCare Jobs: Matt Geller, OD, a SUNY College of Optometry graduate, created this EyesOnEyeCare Jobs. Job posting, whether for part time or full time, starts at $249.
EyeSpyTalent: Jasdeep Soni, OD, a Arizona College of Optometry, Midwestern University graduate, started EyeSpyTalent. It has current listings in California and Nevada and is growing.
Always check other locations in your job search:
- Your local state associations
- The American Optometric Association
- Social media platforms, such as Facebook with various optometry groups
- Your alma mater
- Word-of-mouth referrals
Good luck to everyone out there job hunting!
P.S. I have no financial disclosures or affiliations for any I mentioned above.
References
1. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000003
2. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Full-Time-Optometrist-Salary
3. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/American-Salary
Read another column by Dr. Mena here.
Read more insights from our editors here.
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Vittorio Mena, OD, MS, is the sports vision director with Optical Academy. Dr. Mena is also an optometric financial coach/fiduciary with Series 6 and 63 investment licenses and Series 2-14 life and variable annuity licenses. To contact him: menavitt@gmail.com |
