In those circumstances, having optometrists available for ocular injuries and other type of eye-related problems in the ER just enhances the care that the ER is able to give people in the community, he said. Mann thinks optometrists can help to support general ER physicians in assessing the eye. Optometrists care for the eye day in and day out and will be able to draw on these skills in making assessments, he thinks. There are going to be some aspects of a hospital-based care that maybe an optometrist will be unfamiliar with, but in terms of acquiring a history and providing care, that really isn t different between the hospital and the practice, Mann said. He would like to see the professions work together.
Ophthalmologists concerns Many ophthalmologists, however, have reservations about the idea.
John C. Maher, MD, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ophthalmology, believes that deciding whether to put optometrists on medical staffs is not a simple question. It s something that hospitals have to take very seriously, because of the care needed by acute-care patients, Maher said. The hospital setting requires split-second decision making that could affect the patient s whole life. Maher points out that optometric education, which does not really involve in-hospital training, is significantly different from that of ophthalmology. Ophthalmic residents are frequently called upon to order tests, write charts, and make decisions based on general medical knowledge and the presenting eye complaint.