Which Type Of Eye Doctor Should I See?

Types of Specialists

Who should I choose for my next eye exam?
The names of the different eye professionals all begin with “O” and are easily confused. Here is a description of each to help you decide who can best help you.

Optometrist: A general eye doctor with eight to ten years of college training to provide complete eye health, glasses, contact lenses, laser vision correction evaluations, computer eye strain and children’s vision evaluations. These doctors also provide treatment for many eye diseases and dysfunctions. This is the doctor best equipped for the first entry point into vision health care.

Ophthalmologist: A doctor specializing in surgical care of eye health problems. The best ophthalmologist specializes in specific parts of the eye. Because of the narrow specialization of ophthalmologists, they are best seen after a referral based on a general vision exam completed by an optometrist.

Optician: This specialist manufactures the custom glasses and contact lenses to fill the prescriptions written by eye doctors.

Ocularist: An ocularist fits and makes ocular prosthesis (artificial eyes).