While many optometrists are self-employed, a growing number are in partnership or group practice and some work as salaried employees of opthalmologists, in hospitals or for HMOs. All states require that optometrists have a Doctor of Optometry degree from an accredited optometry school and pass both a written and clinical board examination. The four year optometry school program is preceded by at least three years of study at an accredited college or university and most students have a bachelor's degree. There are seventeen accredited US schools of optometry. Admission to any of the seventeen optometry schools in the United States requires at least three years of undergraduate work.
Some schools give preference to applicants with a bachelor's degree.