Individuals considering a particular career need to understand the outlook for that career not only on a nationwide basis, but also on a state and local basis. This research considers the state of Florida and specifically the PMSA area of Fort Lauderdale as a career opportunity in optometry and related areas. Of particular interest are the demographics of the region, the income distribution, availability of health care providers, and the level of spending related to the eye care profession. Taken together these factors can indicate whether or not the region is an attractive one for this profession.
In 1998, a total of 3,758 physicians practiced medicine in Broward County, with an average of 399 persons per physician. There were 20 acute care hospitals in the county in 1998 with a total of 5,538 hospital beds, an average of 3.7 beds per 1,000 residents. The county also had 32 nursing homes (the highest number of any county in the state with the exceptions of Palm Beach, Dade and Pinellas with a total capacity of 3,991 beds ("State and County Data," 1999, pp. 42, 43).
In 1995, there were a total of 1,583 physician clinics with a total of more than 13,300 employees located throughout Broward County. The county also had 98 osteopathic offices, 652 dental offices, 261 chiropractic offices, 101 podiatric offices and 97 optometric offices. The following chart illustrates the number of various types of offices and total number of employees in Broward County in 1995 ("State and County Data," 1999, pp. 43, 44):
In general, Florida has a higher population of older residents growing at a faster rate than the nation as a whole. In addition, while Florida has a somewhat lower per capita income than the United States, the Ft. Lauderdale area has a significantly higher per capita income at $27,129 in 1996. Florida also has a higher percent of its population living below the poverty level than the nation as a whole. The following ta...