subject: What Do Optometrists Do? [print this page] When we have some eye problems, we would go to visit the eye doctors. But eye doctors can be fallen into several categories. Here we are going to talking about one of them-optometrist. Optometrists, formally called ophthalmic opticians, are eye doctors who are responsible for a lot of matters. Here is something that they usually do: prescribe lenses, give visual advices and help, exam eye problems, or even they can prescribe some drugs for eye problem suffers, etc.
If one wants to be an optometrist, he will have to do the following things. The first is to get a 3year-cetificate of university. Then receive some training as intern work for at least one year. If he wants to be a registered optometrist, he has to pass a qualifying test after the train period, which also called pre-registration year. After the test, one should decide which particular area to work, as fields of lenses, or eye treatment, or childrens vision, etc.
Here is some information about their major tasks. If we feel any discomfort or find any eye problems in our eyes, we could go and ask them for help. They can give us some information about which lenses are suitable for us or the specific solution for our problems. They also co-work with ophthalmologists sometimes, such as they can give some suggestions about eye surgery, though they can not operate the surgery.
However, good optometrists should have very advanced qualifications. Here is the detailed information about them.
The first is of course is related to academic background. As it said earlier, the basic premise to be an optometrist is having received at least a 3 -year education in any college. Some even have bachelors or master degrees.
With the education certificates, they should enroll in a medical school. And the period should be four years. After that, they must pass some tests in the field, so as to assure they are qualified in both theory and practice. Some advanced optometrists even have Ph. D degree in other fields.
Optometrists are not allowed to operate eye surgery. But they can do almost all other things, as check the problems, prescribe the lenses, and give some solutions to particular problems, etc. They are very good at handling nearsightedness. They can always provide us with the best solution.
There are great difference among optometrist, ophthalmologists and opticians. The middle ones are mainly responsible for operating eye surgeries and prescribing related drug, or they can give some suggestions on which lenses are suitable for us. Opticians, as their names indicate, are mainly responsible for lenses prescription. They can help us find the best lenses for us.
Of course, for the characters of their work, optometrists are actively engaged in public welfare undertaking. They often tell us how to protect our eyes and they also solve many eye problems with their latest techniques.
The procedure of eye testing is very complicated. Optometrists have to use a lot of equipments and tools. If they want to chart some particular areas in our eyes, they will use vision charts and machines. To test the degree of refraction, some trail lenses will be employed. In a word, many devices will be used in eye testing.
Computers are now the widely used equipments in the treatment of ocular problems. With special equipment, the information of the eyes will be transferred onto the computer screens. Then the optometrists can tell whether any diseases occurred. The information of the eye balls will be projected on the screen in digital pictures. The optometrists have a very clear panorama of our corneas, both in anterior and posterior parts. Other advanced equipments are also employed in ocular testing.
