For Optometrists’ Eyes Only

Abstract

Put an optometrist and an ophthalmologist in the same room. The inferiority complex exuding from the optometrist will be so thick you can cut it. Conversely, the superiority complex emanating from the ophthalmologist will be so palpable you could bottle and sell it. How did this come about? A hundred years ago, optometrists tested people’s eyesight, recommended, and sold them spectacles. They did not diagnose eye diseases, prescribe medications or perform eye surgery. Today they do-although the range of surgery they perform falls below the scope of surgeries done by the ophthalmologists. How did this come about?