To keep your eyes in good condition, you need to visit the right specialist at the right time. The activities of an ophthalmologist and an optometrist have one and the same goal – that you see better. But these two specialists differ in terms of training and experience.
An ophthalmologist first studies general medicine (to become a general practitioner), which gives him the opportunity to see a person as a whole and the relationship between individual parts of his body and health problems. After graduation, a doctor can specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases.
Ophthalmologists also specialize in further work: for example, a general ophthalmologist works like a “family doctor” in ophthalmology, dealing with primary diagnosis and treatment. If necessary, he or she refers the patient to a specialist in the front part of the eye (lids, mucous membrane, cornea), or to a consultant in fundus diseases, a pediatric ophthalmologist, a specialist in glaucoma, or a disease related to eye pressure, or to a doctor dealing with eye surgery instead.
Prescribing glasses has been part of the job of ophthalmologists for centuries, but in the last few decades, optometrists have begun to take over this function. They are not doctors, but they have applied higher education. Under Estonian conditions, optometrists receive their education at the Tallinn University of Health.
research and correction of people’s visual function,
fitting, manufacturing and minor repair of glasses, contact lenses and other optical aids.
Optometrists are employed in eyeglass stores where they focus on prescribing glasses and contact lenses. In the Kreutzwald Eye Center, optometrists work with an ophthalmologist, where, in addition to the aforementioned, they perform eye examinations using medical devices. Of course, such a job requires additional optometrist training and practice with ophthalmologists. These optometrists are becoming more and more true assistants to ophthalmologists.
If you feel that something has happened to your vision, the optometrist working at Kreutzwald Eye Center can determine your visual acuity and, if necessary, correct it with glasses. He can also measure intraocular pressure, take photos of the fundus, and perform an OCT examination to assess the layers of the fundus.
An optometrist with sufficient knowledge and experience can assess whether and how soon you should see an ophthalmologist. An optometrist does not treat, but he must understand whether you are only concerned about a problem with the optical system (which can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses) or whether there is something else wrong with your eyes.
