Getting To Know Your Eye Care Professionals

Getting your eyes and your glasses checked can be a fairly simple procedure or a very complicated one, depending on the problem and on who's doing the checking. Routine eye examinations can be performed by ophthalmologists and by optometrists, and parts of routine eye exams can be done by technicians who may or may not have a specific degree or certification. Let's take a moment to define and discuss the different types of eye care professionals.

Ophthalmologists: An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor, a graduate of an accredited medical school with an M.D. degree. This means that you can expect him to have a pretty good understanding of the illnesses that can befall the rest of your body, and the ramifications of such ailments (diabetes, for instance) for your eyesight. Ophthalmologists can also be doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.). In addition, a board-certified ophthalmologist must have completed at least three years of residency training beyond the M.D. degree and passed extensive written and oral examinations in diseases and surgery of the eye.

Many ophthalmologists provide total eye care, beginning with the comprehensive medical eye examination. They prescribe glasses and contact lenses, diagnose eye diseases and disorders, and perform the appropriate medical, surgical, and laser procedures necessary to treat them.

Other ophthalmologists perform eye exams and diagnose and treat diseases of the eye but limit themselves to a fairly narrow range of surgical procedures, referring patients needing different procedures to other ophthalmic subspecialists. And some subspecialists (doctors who concentrate on treating specific diseases and performing certain procedures) do not perform routine eye exams at all.

Similar to many other branches of medicine, ophthalmology has become increasingly sub-specialized over the last twenty years. Although some policymakers are fond of making the blanket statement that "there are just too many specialists," the undisputed fact is that anyone who needs a surgical procedure wants the operation to be done by a surgeon who has performed that very same procedure, someone who does it every day, or at least several times a week, someone who is deeply familiar with every detail of the operation, and with every expertise of that particular body part, rather than by a generalist whose job is to know a little bit about everything and who might have done that procedure only a few times before.

This means that if and when you need a surgical procedure, consider getting a second opinion, and find the best, most experienced physician you can to perform it. Think about it: it's your precious vision at stake here, and your one chance to get the job done right. It's also true that most surgeons want to do only the operations that they do really well.

Optometrists: An optometrist is someone who has earned a doctor of optometry (O.D.) degree after completing four years of post-graduate-level optometry school, following a four-year undergraduate college degree. Optometry school covers the structure and function of the eye, mechanisms of vision and optics, and the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. Some optometry schools have even developed collaborative arrangements with medical schools to give optometry students the opportunity to develop a better understanding of how the eye relates to the human body and its overall condition.

Optometrists traditionally limited their scope of practice to non-medical treatment of eye problems. This included prescribing glasses and contact lenses to improve the quality of vision and the use of vision therapy to improve the overall functioning of the visual system.

Optometrists were taught how to diagnose eye diseases and look for signs of associated systemic (whole body) diseases so that the patient could be referred to the appropriate physician. Currently, however, many optometrists are learning how and being licensed to treat non-complicated eye disease and how to manage surgery patients along with ophthalmologists.

Opticians: An optician is an eye care professional that is licensed to fit, adjust, and dispense eyeglasses and other optical devices following the written prescription of an ophthalmologist or optometrist. In some states opticians can also fit and dispense contact lenses.

Most eye care professionals agree that each of these specialists has a separate yet complementary role in eye care, and in the future, you're likely to see these three groups working more closely together. This will allow for a more comprehensive approach to eye care, one that can also be cost-efficient for patients and their insurance companies, as well as for eye care providers.