Optometrist professionals provide different eye care services such as the ranging of vision with the help of sight testing. They provide diagnosis, correction, management, and treatment of vision change. However, they are not general doctors and have an OD after attending and completion of optometry school after their college education of a minimum of three years. They are given a license to provide optometrist professional services. Some of the services that they provide include:
- Conducting Vision tests
- Conducting Eye exams
- Dispensing and Prescribing corrective lenses
- Detecting eye abnormalities
- Prescribing necessary medications
- They can also provide pre-operative and post-operative care after eye surgery
- They also provide services concerning vision therapy
Most optometrists who work at clinics conduct the eye examination of the patients and enquire about their medical history regarding any kind of eye problems. Then they check the refractive errors along with a test known as the visual acuity in order to evaluate and asses the eyesight. They also provide advice and suggestion on whether the patients require a spectacle. They provide a calculated refractive condition of the eye that will help the patient in attaining the proper vision.
One of the most common optometrist professional services includes behavioral optometry which is a vision therapy conducted by optometrist professionals. People who have difficulty in concentration and have a visual attention problem must visit an optometrist. The entire test is an evaluation of the eyes of the patients and conducted through a thorough check and diagnosis.
The Importance of Optometrist professional Services
There are certain categories of people who need the attention and treatment of optometrist professional services:
- Children who are facing trouble when it comes to learning and even reading
- Children who will very soon start their schooling process. The earlier services reap better results.
- Children who find it problematic or cannot coordinate in sports activities that are especially very visually demanding.
- People who wish to improve their athletic performances
- People who have to regularly or constantly work on their computers
- People with visually demanding jobs
- People who go through problems such as itchy eyes, burning eyes or even visual fatigue without having any medical history of eye problem
The optometrist professional services follow a holistic approach through behavioral optometry and their other services. Their primary goal is to improve any kind of visual problem and provide better services related to eye care.
Optometrist professionals are not surgeons but they are the first source to diagnose any kind of visionary problems and act as the first responders in this case. Preventing any kind of visual deterioration and finding the best treatment is extremely important. The specialists should follow up the patients and check how they are responding.
Optometrist Professional Services for Awareness Programs
Apart from their patient care services, they also provide services to society and are involved in several kinds of social welfare. They have raised several types of awareness programs through the past couple of years and some of them were even inaugurated by WHO.
Optometrist professional services also include visiting school, colleges and other institutions to conduct their services in the form of camps in order to conduct visual tests and raise the importance of Optometrist service. They also prescribe medications and glasses after checking the state of vision.
Optometrist professionals who offer services in order to improve the health of the sufferers are known as Community Optometrists. There are a very few of them around the world and found in few countries. Usually they run their services in rural areas and focus on a particular group of people.