Optometry


Optometry, meaning "eye", and μέτρον is the healthcare practice concerned with examining the eyes for visual defects, prescribing corrective lenses, and detecting eye abnormalities.
In the United States and Canada, optometrists are those that hold a post-baccalaureate four-year Doctor of Optometry degree. They are trained and licensed to practice optometry and eye related conditions, in addition to providing refractive eye care. Within their scope of practice, optometrists are health care practitioners according to the WHO and bill medical insurance accordingly.
In the United Kingdom, optometrists may also provide medical care for eye-related conditions in addition to providing refractive care. The Doctor of Optometry degree is rarer in the UK.
Many optometrists participate in academic research for eye-related conditions and diseases. In addition to prescribing glasses and contact lenses for vision related deficiencies, optometrists are trained in monitoring and treating ocular disease-pathologies.
The range of training for optometrists varies greatly between countries. Some countries only require certificate training while others require a doctoral degree.
In the United States, optometrists typically hold a four-year college degree, a four-year Doctor of Optometry degree, and have the option to complete a one-year residency program.
By comparison, in the United States, ophthalmologists are medical doctors who typically hold a four-year college degree, a four-year medical degree, and additional years of training after medical school in an ophthalmology residency during which they receive training in advanced medical management of eye disease and ocular surgery as well as prescribing glasses. Some ophthalmologists receive additional post-residency training in a fellowship.

Etymology

The term "optometry" comes from the Greek words ὄψις and μέτρον. The word entered the language when the instrument for measuring vision was called an optometer,. The root word opto is a shortened form derived from the Greek word ophthalmos meaning, "eye." Like most healthcare professions, the education and certification of optometrists are regulated in most countries. Optometric professionals and optometry-related organizations interact with governmental agencies, other healthcare professionals, and the community to deliver eye and vision care.

Definition of optometry and optometrist

The World Council of Optometry, World Health Organization and about 75 optometry organizations from over 40 countries have adopted the following definition, to be used to describe optometry and optometrist.

History

Optometric history is tied to the development of
The history of optometry can be traced back to thirteenth century, with Roger Bacon's Opus Majus providing a theoretical outline of the use of lenses to improve human vision.
It is unknown when the first spectacles were made. The British scientist and historian Sir Joseph Needham, in his Science and Civilization in China, reported the earliest mention of spectacles was in Venetian guild regulations. He suggested that the occasional claim that spectacles were invented in China may have come from a paper by German-American anthropologist Berthold Laufer. Per Needham, the paper by Laufer had many inconsistencies, and that the references in the document used by Laufer were not in the original copies but added during the Ming dynasty. Early Chinese sources mention the eyeglasses were imported.
Research by David A. Goss in the United States shows they may have originated in the late 13th century in Italy as stated in a manuscript from 1305 where a monk from Pisa named Rivalto stated "It is not yet 20 years since there was discovered the art of making eyeglasses". Spectacles were manufactured in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands by 1300. Needham stated spectacles were first made shortly after 1286.
In 1907, Laufer stated in his history of spectacles 'the opinion that spectacles originated in India is of the greatest probability and that spectacles must have been known in India earlier than in Europe'. However, as already mentioned, Joseph Needham showed that the references Laufer cited were not in the older and best versions of the document Laufer used, leaving his claims unsupported.
In Sri Lanka, it is well-documented that during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu the IV of the Gampola period the ancient tradition of optical lens making with a natural stone called Diyatarippu was given royal patronage. A few of the craftsmen still live and practice in the original hamlet given to the exponents of the craft by royal decree. But the date of King Bhuvanekabahu is decades after the mention of spectacles in the Venetian guild regulations and after the 1306 sermon by Dominican friar Giordano da Pisa, where da Pisa said the invention of spectacles was both recent and that he had personally met the inventor
The German word brille is derived from Sanskrit vaidurya. Etymologically, brille is derived from beryl, Latin beryllus, from Greek beryllos, from Prakrit verulia, veluriya, from Sanskrit vaidurya, of Dravidian origin from the city of Velur. Medieval Latin berillus was also applied to eyeglasses, hence German brille, from Middle High German berille, and French besicles ''spectacles, altered from old French bericle.
Benito Daza de Valdes published the first full book on opticians in 1623, where he mentioned the use and fitting of eyeglasses. In 1692, William Molyneux wrote a book on optics and lenses where he stated his ideas on myopia and problems related to close-up vision. The scientists Claudius Ptolemy and Johannes Kepler also contributed to the creation of optometry. Kepler discovered how the retina in the eye creates vision. From 1773 until around 1829, Thomas Young discovered the disability of astigmatism and it was George Biddell Airy who designed glasses to correct that problem that included sphero-cylindrical lens.
Although the term optometer appeared in the 1759 book A Treatise on the Eye: The Manner and Phenomena of Vision'' by Scottish physician William Porterfield, it was not until the early twentieth century in the United States and Australia that "optometry" began to be used to describe the profession. By the early twenty-first century, however, marking the distinction with dispensing opticians, it had become the internationally accepted term.

Diseases

A partial list of the common diseases optometrists diagnose/manage:

Eye examination

Following are examples of examination methods performed during an eye examination that enables diagnosis
is a medical technological platform used to assess ocular structures. The information is then used by eye doctors to assess staging of pathological processes and confirm clinical diagnoses. Subsequent OCT scans are used to assess the efficacy of managing diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma

Training, licensing, representation and scope of practice

Optometry is officially recognized in many jurisdictions. Most have regulations concerning education and practice. Optometrists, like many other healthcare professionals, are required to participate in ongoing continuing education courses to stay current on the latest standards of care.

Africa

In 1993, five countries in Africa had optometric teaching institutes: Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. Ethiopia began offering optometric education in 2005 at the University of Gondar. In Kenya, two universities, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and Kaimosi Friends University, offer a Bachelor of Science in Optometry and Vision Sciences.

Sudan

Sudan's major institution for the training of optometrists is the Faculty of Optometry and Visual Sciences, originally established in 1954 as the Institute of Optometry in Khartoum; the Institute joined with the Ministry of Higher Education in 1986 as the High Institute of Optometry, and was ultimately annexed into Alneelain University in 1997 when it was renamed the FOVS. The FOVS offers several programs: a BSc in Optometry, which takes 5 years and includes sub-specialization in orthoptics, contact lenses, ocular photography, or ocular neurology; a BSc in Ophthalmic Technology, requiring 4 years of training; and a BSc in Optical Dispensary, completed in 4 years. The FOVS also offers MSc and PhD degrees in optometry. The FOVS is the only institute of its kind in Sudan and was the first institution of higher education in Optometry in the Middle East and Africa. In 2010, Alneelain University Eye Hospital was established as part of the FOVS to expand training capacity and to serve broader Sudanese community.

Ghana

The Ghana Optometric Association regulates the practice of Optometry in Ghana. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Cape Coast are the two universities that offer the degree programme in the country. After the six-year training at any of the two universities offering the course, the O.D. degree is awarded. The new optometrist must write a qualifying exam, after which the optometrist is admitted as a member of the GOA, leading to the award of the title MGOA.