What Is an Optometrist?

Video Transcript

"I'm Doctor Jim Kirkconnell of Bellevue Eye Care Center in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm here to define the term Optometrist for you. Different than medicine and dentistry, optometry is actually, it's something that is defined by each individual state. Optometry had been an evolving profession. It wasn't thirty years ago that no Optometrist treated a disease, but now the education level is such that all states allow treatment of eye disease. We are the, and I am an Optometrist, or an Optometric Physician, as we call ourselves in Tennessee. I'm allowed to treat any type of eye disease with either eye drops or oral medications. I do remove metal from someones eye. Now, I do not cut into the eye to do cataract surgery, that is an Ophthalmologist who does that, and has had extra training for that. The Optometrist or Optometric Physician sees the majority of patients in this country and does primary eye care. That means that, if there's something that's a serious eye disease that needs surgery, then we will refer that patient to the appropriate practitioner, whether it's a corneal specialist, whether it's a retinal specialist, or whether it's someone who treats serious glaucoma. So, again, Optometrist is an evolving profession. In Oklahoma, Optometrist is allowed to do PRK which is laser surgery if he or she is certified. But, that's again, like I was saying, Optometry is a legislative profession where it is different in the fifty states."