A friend had an optomotrist perform surgery on her eye and lost her sight in that eye. It took an ophthalmologist - a real eye doctor - to get her back most of her sight. The optometrist may be very nice, but CLEARLY does not have the medical knowledge or skill that an eye surgeon - who has studied eye surgery for many more years before going into the market place - has.

I have worked in the medical field for many years. The only medical professional that should be licensed to perform surgery is an MD whose residency rotation included surgery training and experience.

I think the only thing CLEAR hear on reading these comments is that there is a lot of misperception out there and this needs to be discussed more. To begin with, mention is made of MD's, "real doctors". Let us not forget (or do we know?) of DO's, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, who are also "real doctors" and become ophthalmologists (BTW, that word has two h's in it) in all 50 States and territories after receiving the same surgical/medical training that allopathic (MD) physicians have. So one misperception right there. Could there not be another misperception? Secondly, I am a "real" physician who works in a rural area, and there ARE NO ophthalmologists anywhere close. I have on multiple occasions consulted or referred patients to local optometrists for both medical and trauma situations, and they have done a bang-up job of helping out. If it is beyond their capability, they refer to ophthalmology. Consideration needs to be taken of the relative lack of availability of ophthalmology in rural areas.