What is the difference between an optometrist and an Ophthalmologist?
KLD asked:
If an optometrist does a glaucoma test, what other differences are there?
If an optometrist does a glaucoma test, what other differences are there?
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Optometry (Greek: optos meaning seen or visible and metria meaning measurement) is the health care profession concerned with examination, diagnosis, and treatment of the eyes and related structures and with determination and correction of vision problems using lenses and other optical aids [1].
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine which deals with the diseases and surgery of the visual pathways, including the eye and brain. The word ophthalmology comes from the Greek roots ophthalmos meaning eye and logos meaning word; ophthalmology literally means “The science of eyes.” As a discipline it applies to animal eyes also, since the differences from human practice are surprisingly minor and are related mainly to differences in anatomy or prevalence, not differences in disease processes. By convention the term ophthalmologist is more restricted and implies a medically trained specialist. Since ophthalmologists perform operations on eyes, they are generally categorized as surgeons.
An Ophtalmologist is a medical doctor who specializes in the eyes including eye diseases and can prescribe lenses. He can treat diseases of the eyes.
An Optometrist is not a doctor, but can only exam eyes and prescribe lenses. They can test you, but cannot treat you.
The ophthalmologist is an MD or DO who did a residency of specialty training.. They can treat more diseases and conditions of the eye than an optometrist. An optometrist is a college graduate who then has 4 more years of specialty training in eye care. They have a doctoral degree, OD, and should be called “doctor” just like anyone else with a doctoral degree. In some states, optometrists are allowed to prescribe a fair number of Rx items to treat dieases and disorders of the eye. In others, they are very restricted.
Which one would be better to see on a routine basis? Personally, I favor seeing the optometrist, as I think that they have more technical training and abilities for the vision examination. If they see pathologies, they will refer you to the ophthalmologist. Many have one in their office a day or two a week.
lenght of training I believe
The biggest difference is that an ophthalmologist is also a medical doctor. Both can prescribe corrective lenses, do screenings, treat irritations and some injuries but an ophthalmologist can also do surgery on the eye.