Optometry

Optometry is a healthcare profession concerned with the health of the eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. In the United States, Canada, Nigeria and Ghana, optometrists are doctors of optometry[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and are held to the same legal standards as any physician.[8][9] Optometrists[10] (also known as ophthalmic opticians[11] outside the United States and Canada[12][13][14][15][16]) are trained to prescribe and fit lenses to improve vision, and to diagnose and treat various eye diseases. In all U.S. states optometrists are licensed to diagnose and treat diseases of the eye through topical diagnostic and therapeutic drugs,[17][18] and oral drugs in 48 of the 50 states.[19] This is not the case, however, in the United Kingdom and other countries, where optometrists do not undertake medical training equivalent to that of physicians and are therefore not considered so. Doctors of optometry are also able to perform certain types of laser surgery in some states. In other countries, patients are referred to different healthcare professionals, such as ophthalmologists, neurologists, and general medical practitioners, for further treatment or investigation.