I know there is a member here who is one of these. I thought that ophthalmologists were medical doctors and optometrists were not. Is this correct? It appears to me from the following that I found that ophthalmologists get their designation from a school in their field and therefore are not realy doctors (no medical training). This reminds me of chiropractors who get their designation from a chiropractic school and call themselves doctors when they really are not.
My question is: Are optometrists actually doctors? Should we call them doctors? What about chiropractors?
Quote:
An ophthalmologist is a Medical Doctor who has an M.D. degree. That means he or she has gone through four years of medical school and at least one year of post-graduate general medical and surgical training and is a fully trained physician who has then gone on to specialize in treatment of eye diseases by doing at least three years of extra training in ophthalmology. An ophthalmologist is, therefore, fully trained in all aspects of medical and surgical diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and has as well a complete background in general medicine.
An optometrist has a Doctor of Optometry degree from an optometry school which is usually four years of training in examining the eyes and treating certain types of visual and eye disorders. They do not have any background in general medicine, nor do they have any training in surgical management of eye diseases. They generally have some training in medical treatment, but it varies a great deal.
As a general rule, if you have nothing medically wrong with your eyes and just need glasses or contact lenses or general routine eye check-ups, an optometrist can provide that service. If you have anything actually wrong with your eyes or have a significnat eye or general medical problem, it is better to see an ophthalmologist.
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