What’s the Difference between an Optometrist and an Optician, Anyway?


Optometrist? Ophthalmologist? Optician? There are a lot of “o” words that are easily confused when it comes time to decide who to visit in Kelowna to get help with your visual health. These titles are similar to one another because they all have to do with our sight and come from the Greek word “opsis,” or “view.” At the same time, each of these words does designate a slightly different way of helping with your vision. Let us at Mission Creek Optometry clarify the situation for you a little bit.

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An Optometrist Handles Primary Eye Care

You can think of an optometrist as a family doctor for your eyes. An optometrist will handle any primary eye care tasks, such as eye exams, writing lens prescriptions, diagnosing and co-managing most eye diseases. To be an optometrist, finer education is required and qualified optometrists have a Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree. In addition to this, many optometrists choose to also pursue a residency after they get their degree to help them specialize in a particular issue in the complex world of eye health. For an eye exam or consult, consult our qualified Kelowna optometrist, Dr. Scott Percival at Mission Creek Optometry.

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An Ophthalmologist Receives Additional Training

Like an optometrist, an ophthalmologist is a trained medical professional. They graduate from medical school and do extensive additional training to be able to care for eyes in particular. Every ophthalmologist must be licensed by the government to be allowed to assess a patient’s visual health, carry out surgical procedures on the eyes or offer pre- and post-operation medical care.

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An Optician Fits Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses

Some opticians are licensed by the government and are able to offer full optical services but don’t require medical degrees. Unlike most optometrists and ophthalmologists, opticians excel in the hardware that goes along with correcting someone’s sight. They are experts at fitting eyeglasses and contact lenses. If you’ve broken your glasses and need a replacement, our experienced Kelowna opticians can help you through the process of finding the right eyeglasses or contact lenses for you.

Contact us in the Kelowna Area

We at Mission Creek Optometry like to think of ourselves asyour complete family eye care centre. Dr. Scott Percival is a trained and experienced optometrist. At our clinic, we handle everything fromfitting you for glasses to the co-management of your eye surgery. If you’re looking for a new optometrist or an optician in the Kelowna area,contact us today to find out how we can help.

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