36 • e Strategic Project Leader
began popping up in the 1980s and now take a signicant share of the
corrective eye-care market. Consumers walk into an eye-care superstore
and get a safe, professional eye examination. e same is beginning to
happen with delicate niche eye-care services such as laser eye surgery. Only
a few years ago, this was state-of-the-art surgery; now doctors perform
these surgeries in shopping malls.
Demand for optometrists’ services is projected to grow in the coming
years. e average optometrist works 40 hours per week, but many work
weekends and evenings to meet the needs of patients. Emergency calls,
once uncommon, have increased with the passage of therapeutic-drug
laws, expanding optometrists’ ability to prescribe ...