Opt… Who Can Help

Can someone help me with….

Optician: An optician generally works with glasses. They may help you pick out a pair of frames specific for you and help you select different lens designs. They then cut the lenses to fit your frame. When you pick up your glasses opticians will adjust them to fit your face and help you to learn to use them. For instance if you are a first time bifocal wearer you may need guidance on how to align you head to read.

Education: Opticians may go to school to be trained to dispense glasses or they may work underneath a doctor’s supervision/license. This can vary by state.

Optometrist: Optometrists are eye doctors and are vision specialists. They may take particular interest in a certain aspect of vision including low vision, developmental vision or retina but they all have significant general experience. They can prescribe glasses and check the health of the eyes. Depending upon the state they practice in they may treat many diseases including glaucoma, diabetes, and dry eye. In a few specific states they can do lasik and minor surgical procedures. Optometrists often do pre-operative and post-operative care for procedures including lasik, cataract surgery and others. They often participate with many medical insurances and vision plans.

Education: Optometrists get four years of post-graduate education specializing in the eyes, brain and vision. They graduate with an O.D. And some perform a residency.

Ophthalmologist: Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who specialize in the eye. They are the disease specialists and often times will have a particular area of interests. These include cataracts, corneal diseases, retinal diseases, glaucoma and others. They can prescribe glasses and check the health of the eyes. They treat all eyes diseases including dry eye, glaucoma and diabetes. Ophthalmologists also perform surgeries including cataract removal, strabismus surgery, macular degeneration injections and glaucoma surgeries. They often participate with many medical insurances and some vision plans.

Education: Ophthalmologists attend four years of post-graduate education at a medical school and earn an M.D. where they learn about the whole body. They then go and perform three to eight years of internship and residency where they learn about their chosen specialty and the eyes.

My personal thoughts: Most individuals in these groups work very well together. I can honestly say that I have a wonderful working relationship with many opticians and ophthalmologists. To be quite frank, I don’t have a clue how to cut a lens to fit it into the frame sitting on my nose right now. I however can refer you to an excellent optician who can do just that and I can check the results. I also have wonderful working relationships with many ophthalmologists and I use their expertise in various diseases just as they use my expertise in developmental vision. The system can and does work extremely efficiently.

“Dodge”