Deciding on which type of eye specialist you want to be might be difficult for future careers, and choosing the right school to study might be confusing if you’re going to be an optician or an optometrist. Here we discuss the difference between an optician vs optometrist.
Optician or Optometrist
Knowing the differences between the two career choices can help us decide on what we want to do later on which programs to take in college and which clinics we want to work for.
An optician is an eye care specialist that assists clients with eyewear fitting and selection. Opticians are most commonly encountered in clinics and stores that sell contact lenses and eyeglasses. Some big nationwide stores that sell eyewear prefer not to employ opticians because they cannot offer frame alterations and lens prescriptions, and people that work in these stores may or may not have any optician training. Because of this, opticians are frequently found in ophthalmology clinics and optometrist offices.
On the other hand, an optometrist should not be confused with an optician. An optometrist is more focused on the eyes, vision, visual systems, and their related structures. They obtain skills that enable them to fit or prescribe lenses involving vision improvement and treat various eye diseases. They can administer injections and prescribe oral medications like antibiotics on patients. They can also do eye laser surgeries and provide pre and post care to operative patients.
Which Career to Choose
Before deciding on which career you want to focus on, you should choose the right college for your future career as an optician or optometrist. Opticians are not trained to be medical doctors, but they do have enough training to fill prescriptions for eyeglasses. Optometrists are doctors of optometry, but they are not medical doctors as well.
Optometrists study for four years in an undergraduate course then takes up another four years of study of further education. Optometrists can take up several eye care specializations like optometry, eye therapy or sports eye care, vision rehabilitation and family eye care, and a variety of different specialties. Because of advancements in medical technology, some optometry schools now have state-of-the-art facilities and equipment necessary for training to hone and develop their students.
Conclusion
Choosing a specialization is easy, considering your target career path. You can check online for schools that offer vocational courses or undergraduate programs for future careers as an optician and optometrist. Although differences are apparent, personal choices and opinions still do matter for our livelihood.