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.
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?
I think you misquoted yourself
Hesla I think is CP's resident eye expert so he should be able to give you the best answer
The article you posted is correct. What I do know working at Health is that both Optometeists and Chiropractors are registered health professionals, with their own colleges. Their degree granting colleges give them the title of doctors when they graduate, just like you would call Dr. Smith if they were a Dentist, Chiropractor, Audiologist..etc
Opthalmologists get their training in their speciailization after their 4 year medical school training and so they have the Doctor MD designation (along with the other designations after MD reflecting their practice/specializations.
An Optometrist is only a Doctor within the confines of their office and only in regards to the eye. Similarliy a Dentist is only a Doctor in their office and in regards to the mouth. It is similar to getting a Doctorate in any other field.
Chiropractors fall under this as well. However, Optometrists and Dentists generally follow a more mainstream medical path (ie. Pharmacology vs. naturopathy).
I do not walk around introducing myself as a Doctor on the street, however, I will introduce myself as such with a patient in my office.
An Ophthalmologist has the ability to order blood work, perform surgeries and treat other medical ailments. An Optometrist does not at this time. However, an Optometrist can remove a foreign body from the eye, treat eye infections, treat minor eye injuries and request testing from a family doctor to rule out major systemic illness'. Many serious medical conditions, such as Diabetes, MS, Meningioma's and aneurysms, can have their first symptoms arise in the eyes. We are trained to recognize this and refer off for further testing.
We have a scope of practice that we must adhere to. Once something is beyond our scope of practice we refer the patient off to an Ophthalmologist. An Ophthalmologist will conversely use an Optometrist to co-manage patients that are being treated by them, but do not necessarily need regular checkups at their office.
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Yah, personally, I don't lump optometrists with chiropractors, I respect optometrists a lot more.
But then, I guess I'm just biased because I know someone who's a chiropractor, and he walks around thinking he's an MD, insisting everyone call him a doctor. I just laugh in his face.
Optometrists vs. ophthalmologists
