YOU AND YOUR EYES

“Good morning, Doctor. How is life treating you?”

“Good morning, Ladi. How is madam and the children?”

“They are fine. Sorry, Doctor, please, I was told you are an optometrist. I am just hearing that for the first time. Is it the same as optician or ophthalmologist?”

“Well, well, the optician, optometrist and the ophthalmologist are all eye care professionals, treating and maintaining the eye (vision and sight), complementing one another for the good of the patients.”

“The optician is someone trained to grind and fix lenses into frames. He is a technician, who in the real sense has no business diagnosing diseases of the eye. He is not trained to test the eyes in any way. He simply receives prescription from the optometrist, ophthalmologist and patients to fix correctly into glasses. He also repairs damaged frames and advises patients on which frame shape best fits his/her face. He may be described as a face architect or Engineer.

The optometrist is a trained professional who examines the eye to determine vision problems and prescribes optical lenses for eyes with optical defects. He detects all forms of eye diseases and can only treat the minor ones like conjunctivitis “Apollo”,scleritis and some other diseases (Adnexa) of the eye and refers major pathological or surgical cases to the ophthalmologist or the surgeon.

The optometrist is admitted into the university with a minimum of five credits in English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology to read for the Doctor of optometry through five academic years to obtain the Doctor of optometry (OD) degree. He does the internship under close supervision of a senior optometrist or with an ophthalmologist for a period of one year. He then goes for the mandatory youth service for one year wherever he/she is posted in the federation of Nigeria before he/she is registered and license to practice in Nigeria by the Board of Nigeria Optometry Association. The optometrist could still decide to specialise in orthoptics (Eye muscles training) pleoptics, geriatrics, pediatrics, occupational and sports optometry, etc.

However, what is practiced in Nigeria and other developing nations (especially Africa) is general optometry, whereby everyone concentrates only on issuance of glasses including ophthalmologist.

The ophthalmologist is an eye care specialist who takes care of the disorder of the eyes including surgery.  The ophthalmologist is first of all trained as a general medical practitioner having gained entrance into the medical school with at least five credits in English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

For six years, he goes through the training in medical school to obtain the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science degree. He therefore goes for the housemanship or internship under supervision of a consultant.

After this, he/she may go for the mandatory Youth service for one year anywhere he/she is posted in the federation. He comes out to register with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria(MDCN) and then starts practicing either in the private or public sector as a general medical practitioner or goes further to specialise in ophthalmology i.e. study of the diseases of the eyes to qualify as an ophthalmologist to treat diseases or disorders and carry out surgery on the eyes. He is the only practitioner who can carry out surgery on the eyes.”

“Madam, I believe I have been able to satisfy your curiosity concerning the eye care professionals?”

“Yes. Doc, but how come there are so many untrained people out there, especially in Lagos, Aba, Onitsha and virtually everywhere, who test people’s eyes and prescribe glasses for them?”

“Thanks for that question madam. Yes, they are quacks. They actually came about from the beginning when there were not enough professionals to satisfy the eye care needs of the people. However, I would want to blame it also on the carelessness of us the professionals, who exposed our profession to impunity and corruption. It can also be attributed to the carelessness of the system we find ourselves in”.

“The professionals are not educating the public enough to know where to go for the care of their eyes. We, the professionals need to do more in educating the public but we are all busy running after money the “Nigerian way”, hence, leaving open areas for the quacks to fill. This people you mentioned are mostly traders who deal in optical goods, frames/lenses and some are those who work one way or the other in eye clinics.

Moreover, the patients believe the clinics are too expensive, hence, the booming market for the quacks. The interesting thing is that most of such patients usually end up in clinics because they have only been tested by trial and error which will eventually backfire to their detriments. A lot is being done and I believe very soon we will be practicing as it is done in all civilised countries of the world. If only we play less ‘politics’ with our professions and carry on with professional mutual respect for the good of all.”

“Thank you doctor, but who does one see first when one has eye problem?”

“Hmmm, well it depends; one could see any of the three first, depending on your point of contact. Referral could be made across board if we are honest with ourselves as professionals.”

“Thank you very much, madam, you have really refreshed my day.”

“Thank you, Doc, God bless you sir.”

We may be talking about refractive errors in our next edition. You may send in questions.

God bless you all.