Can an Optometrist Examine Children?
Increasingly rare, yet I still hear this question from parents, and sometimes various specialists.
Indeed – there are interesting myths circulating, such as:
- an optometrist can examine adults only
- an optometrist can examine people from the age of 16
- an optometrist cannot examine children!
- an optometrist does not have the education to examine children.
Myths
Rumors, when repeated often, become memorized and propagated.
Can an optometrist examine children?
Of course!
There’s an entire field of pediatric optometry in the curriculum at the university.
Let’s not equate an optometrist’s examination with an ophthalmologist’s examination!
These are two different examinations that complement each other!
I know that most often, when patients think about an “eye” examination, they have in mind the selection of eyeglass correction!
This is a huge oversimplification!
So - can an optometrist examine children?
Look at my example (I’m an optometrist), when you or your child come to my office, you can benefit from:
- an examination for eyeglass selection;
- an examination for contact lens selection;
- an examination for the assessment of visual functions (examining children referred from pediatric clinics, excluding/confirming opto-dyslexia and referring for vision examination/therapy);
- an examination for the assessment of eye alignment (strabismus, hidden strabismus);
- an examination for other disorders that will qualify for vision therapy;
Can an Optometrist Examine Children?
I’m skipping the topic of vision therapy – I also conduct it, but today is about examinations.
An ophthalmologist’s task is also to select glasses or contact lenses. Some ophthalmologists specialize in eye alignment disorders… but the main task of ophthalmologists is the treatment of visual system diseases:
glaucoma, cataracts, AMD, retinopathy…
surgery… treatment of injuries…
To the point! Both ophthalmological and optometric examinations are necessary, complementary, and should be performed on every child at about the age of 4,
and definitely when they are starting school!
So - can an optometrist examine children?
Of course, they can. Of course, the studies prepare future graduates for such work.
Another matter is whether an optometrist chooses such a specialization or opens an office for children?
However, the statement that if it’s a child’s examination it has to be only with an ophthalmologist is incorrect.