Trusted Eye Care

Doctors of Optometry are the primary eye care providers in Minnesota, providing more eye health and vision examinations than any other profession. Minnesotans look to Doctors of Optometry for their eye care treatment and advice.

Survey says...

Americans prefer Doctors of Optometry as their eye care expert nearly 2x more than MDs (ophthalmologists).
The most-trusted source for reliable eye health information is a Doctor of Optometry - not an MD (ophthalmologist or primary care physician).

(American Eye-Q Survey, Results published Jan 2019)

Every day...

Doctors of Optometry use a microscope to identify over 270 systemic health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, auto-immune diseases, cancers and more.

Optometrists are trusted and more accessible since their eye surgeon colleagues (full-time ophthalmologists) are not even in half the counties in Minnesota.*

*Source: COHPC

Adapting to Needs

Optometrists practicing in Minnesota take at least 40 hours of continuing education courses every two years. That equates to more than 500 hours of continuing education in a career after they have graduated with a doctorate from optometry school.

8 years

4 years Undergraduate University
plus
4 years DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY SCHOOL

1000s

of patients with eye diseases receive care and treatment during optometric training

~10,000

hours of optometry education and supervised patient care before independently seeing patients

500+

hours of ongoing education in a career after graduation from Doctor of Optometry school

70+

years of national standardized testing to practice Optometry in Minnesota

Proven Success

Nationally, Doctors of Optometry already
perform in-office eyelid procedures

and treat glaucoma, after-cataract surgery care, eyelid styes and more. While optometrists are the trusted professionals for the majority of eye care patients in the United States, you still need an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) to perform cataract surgery, LASIK, retina surgery and more.

Every US Optometry school trains Doctors of Optometry to perform in-office laser and eyelid procedures. In other states, these procedures have been safely provided by optometrists since the 1990s.

Legislated Profession

Why do optometrists need states to legislate their profession?

Every state governs the privileges of its health care providers through licensing programs. For example, every optometry school trains its students but each state’s scope of practice differs. Typically, MDs try to limit the practice of optometrists, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health professionals.

A Professor of both Ophthalmology and Optometry's Perspective

Dr. Richard Castillo, OD, DO is both an Ophthalmologist and Optometrist. In this video he discusses the reasons why modernized optometry scope and eyelid procedures are needed in Minnesota!

Chapters:

Ophthalmologists have commonly tried to reduce patients' access to care by saying that only they can perform in-office eye procedures − even though Optometrists have been safely performing these procedures for decades in other states.

Ophthalmologists often claim that their training is superior to Doctors of Optometry and have tried to limit them from:

Dilating pupils during an eye exam
Fitting contact lenses
Prescribing eye drops for pink eye or glaucoma

Imagine your Doctor of Optometry not being permitted to dilate pupils or treat pink eye, as MDs once opposed.

In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature is considering legislation that allows Doctors of Optometry to practice to the scope of their education and training by allowing them to perform in-office eyelid procedures - HF1031/SF659. Doctors of Optometry have been trained for and have performed these in-office procedures in other states for decades. It's time for Minnesota to catch up, especially since more than half the counties in Minnesota do not even have ophthalmologists, making it difficult to access care. With this legislation, optometrists will be better able to keep pace with evolving changes in healthcare and technology and provide more comprehensive care to patients in their communities.

FACTS

Doctors of Optometry have safely performed some in-office procedures for more than 20 years in other states
This legislation does not include LASIK, cataract surgery or retina procedures
Doctors of Optometry are trained to perform in-office surgery procedures in school and are certified by experts
Doctors of Optometry in Minnesota have been treating glaucoma and eyelid conditions for decades
Doctors of Optometry have been managing and treating complications from these procedures for decades

Doctors of Optometry in other states have been performing in-office eye laser procedures for glaucoma and after-cataract care as well as in-office eyelid procedures for styes and other conditions since the 1990s.

By expanding in-office eyelid procedures in Minnesota within an optometrist's scope of training and education, Minnesotans will have better access to the care they need.

Optometry and Ophthalmology both play a vital, coordinated role in modern eye care

Doctors of Optometry respect and work closely alongside Ophthalmologists to provide their patients the best possible eye care in Minnesota.

Ophthalmologists provide a critical surgical role in LASIK, incisional glaucoma surgery, retinal surgery, eye muscle surgery, corneal transplants, and much much more. Patients are much better served when each discipline is able to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training.

Ophthalmologists (eye surgeons) that oppose the 2023 'Optometry Bill' will say:

Click each statement below to learn more

The Truth

Doctors of Optometry have been performing in‑office laser and in-office eyelid procedures since the 1990s. The argument that only MDs are supposed to perform these procedures ended more than two decades ago.

Every US Doctor of Optometry school in the USA teaches and trains optometrists for in‑office laser and in-office eyelid procedures. In addition, every Optometrist that qualifies to perform in‑office laser and in-office eyelid surgery procedures has been certified by experts including by ophthalmology. It's time to update the Minnesota Practice Act to the 21st century.
The Truth

Doctors of Optometry have been performing in-office laser and in-office eyelid procedures for decades. Minnesota is late to adopt such a law. Eye MDs published an article in 2018 that proved patients would have to drive nearly 2x further by limiting these in-office eye procedures to only ophthalmologists.*

JAMA Ophthalmology 2018
The Truth

The 'Optometry Bill' before the 2023 Minnesota Legislature only removes limitations on the prescribing of certain medications and injections. These in‑office procedures DO NOT include major surgeries like cataract surgery, retina surgery, LASIK and more.
The Truth
In-office laser and in-office eyelid procedure certification is a major endeavor. It requires:
- 4 years of Doctor of Optometry school
- Evaluation and management of thousands of patients
- Years of training in ocular disease and treatment
- Three board examinations
- Performance proficiency examination
Clearly this is impossible to accomplish in only one weekend.
The Truth
MDs in Minnesota have fought against the ability of Doctors of Optometry to care for their patients since the 1980s. In that time, MDs have tried to stop Optometrists from:
- Dilating patient’s pupils.
- Prescribing eye drops for pink eye and glaucoma.
- Prescribing oral medication for eye infections and inflammation.
- Performing in-office procedures to treat eye infections, inflammation and other conditions.
MDs try to convince the public and legislators that their care is the only one that should allow these medical procedures despite there being zero evidence of ill-effects of optometric care over the past four decades. The entire Optometry profession has been built upon personal eye health and vision care for the betterment of society. This is why the public prefers Optometrists for their personalized eye health care.