Optometrists, previously known as ophthalmic opticians are doctors who have been trained to provide optometrist services to examine eyes for vision problems, ocular disease, any signs of injury and also problems related to general eye health.
What Qualification Does A Person Need In Order To Become An Optometrist?
- A minimum of 3 years study at university is required. And afterwards, it is mandatory for them to participate in an assessed clinical practice where all their knowledge is checked against a practical environment.
- If these two conditions are met, then they are qualified to be registered as an optometrist.
- If some of these students wish, they can study further and specialize in a field of their liking.
- Depending on the interest that these optometrists have, they can choose to specialize in a particular subject and provide optometrist services in a particular field.
Optometrist Services – What Can They Do?
- The first duty of an optometrist is to perform an eye test and assess the results.
- An optometrist is qualified to diagnose any eye condition such as nearsightedness and farsightedness, dry eyes and many more. That means a patient can seek optometrist services to get his eye check-up done.
- An optometrist also prescribes medications, contact lenses or glasses in case of a need of a treatment.
- Some therapies, like vision therapy or low-vision rehabilitation is also provided under optometrist services.
- An optometrist is also responsible for providing the care needed before an eye surgery, after an eye surgery and when the patient is under surgery.
Other than this, an optometrist can also diagnose certain diseases like diabetes and if they find such a disease then, they refer the patients to the specialist who can take care of the particular problem.
One of the major tasks that is carried out by an optometrist is counseling the patients who have been prescribed with contact lenses or glasses.
The counseling session helps patients to understand how to properly use these commodities so that they do not end up hurting themselves or cause any future disease.
Some optometrists distinguish on the basis of the disease like doctors who only handle low vision while others may bias on the basis of the age of patients like doctors who only treat children or old people.
Skill Set Required To Become A Good Optometrist
- Decision Making Skills: The first skill required is the ability to make decisions. When a patient is suffering from any condition many alternative treatments are available but the treatment given is really up to the doctor’s judgment.
- Interpersonal Skills: The person should also have social skills so that he or she can make the patient feel comfortable. This can help extract all the necessary information that might help in the treatment or diagnosis of the disease.
- Speaking Skills: The last skill that is required is the ability to talk properly. It is extremely important for a doctor to be able to communicate each and every idea with the patient to let them know what is happening and what steps need to be taken for the betterment of the problem.
Eye doctors can be seen working in almost all hospitals and even though optometrist is a term that is not so famous but the disease these doctors cure definitely is. And that is why the pay scale for these doctors is high.
The eye doctor will give you all the required advice and even perform surgery if needed. It is definitely the job for the skilled and people suffering from eye diseases should consider going to one as soon as they get the chance.
Getting a diagnosis for your eye condition feels like the best way to solve any problems that may come up. Instead of guessing what it is and making it potentially worse, you would recover quicker if you have an expert doctor take a look at you. I’ll start looking for an optometrist in the area that can help me out with the regular checkups my family needs.