Difference Between Ophthalmologist and Optometrist
There are lots of people who interchangeably use ophthalmologists and optometrists thinking that it’s just the same profession when it comes to seeing eye care expert. While it is true that both play an integral role in delivering professional eye care, you should know that their training, their core competencies and expertise are factors that are differentiating the two.
Following is a look of the two kinds of eye care experts to end the confusion.
Optometrists – these professionals have completed a degree in Bachelor of Science or even higher, followed by Doctor of Optometry degree from any accredited school of optometry. While they are medical professionals, you should know that they are not physicians.
Optometrists are clinically trained, educated and also, licensed in delivering highest level of standards of comprehensive and thorough eye care. The services offered by an optometrist include but not limited to prescribing and fitting eyeglasses as well as contact lenses, treating conditions like farsightedness, astigmatism and nearsightedness, participating in either pre or post operative care for patients needing surgery, removing foreign bodies from eyes and so on.
Ophthalmologists – with regards to ophthalmologists, they are basically osteopathic or medical doctor who is specializing in vision and eye care. They’ve completed Bachelor’s Degree as well as 4 years of medical school at accredited university. They have obtained residency both in surgical and medical care of the eyes that in an accredited university hospital. Ophthalmologists are basically specialists and surgeons in relation to eye disease and the service they offer varies slightly from optometrists.
There are many other things that such professional do like for instance, diagnosing and treating eye conditions related to disease such as diabetes or arthritis, perform surgical eye care for crossed eye, trauma and cataracts, perform medical eye care for conditions like iritis, chemical burns as well as glaucoma, provide vision services including eye exams, prescribe and fit contact lenses and eye glasses to fix vision problems and so on.
Remember that to maintain good vision, it will be imperative to regularly see an eye doctor. Remember that your needs and requirements will be used in determining which profession is perfect for your condition so don’t think that one is better than the other. So make sure that you’re seeing the right expert when the time comes to having your eyes checked.
Optometrists and ophthalmologists are trained, experienced and dedicated to provide professional and comprehensive eye exams and they are willing to take time of listening to your eye care needs and ensure that your questions are answered and have everything explained.