Here's an article from the Star regarding pertaining to the subject matter.
Monday April 28, 2008
Opticians and optometrists are not the same
PETALING JAYA: Not many are aware about the difference between optician and optometrist, said the Association of Malaysian Optometrists.
Its president Dr Chung Kah Meng said the term “optometry” was widely used, and this has caused many people to be confused between the job scope of opticians and optometrists.
As such, he proposed that the term “optometry” should be protected under the Optical Act 1991, just like the term “optometrist”.
He said that to become an optometrist one needed to obtain a four-year degree while an optician only goes through a two-year course to get a diploma.
Dr Chung said an optometrist was qualified to examine eyes for defects or faults of refraction, and conduct tests such as measurement of visual acuity and refraction, visual field screening, and measuring intra-ocular pressure.
“We are automatically qualified to prescribe and dispense contact lenses too, while opticians have to sit for an exam conducted by the Malaysian Optical Council (MOC) before they can become contact lens practitioners,” he said.
He said a media report that said optometrists had failed the MOC exam was not accurate as only opticians had to sit for the exam.
Dr Chung said that in Britain opticians were not allowed to conduct eye tests and their role was to dispense spectacles as prescribed by the optometrists.
“But in Malaysia, there are not enough optometrists when the Optical Act 1991 was formulated, so opticians were allowed to conduct eye tests,” he said.
Update : Had a chat with a fellow optometrist and was told that all the Optician that took the MOC (Malaysian Optic Council) Contact Lens examination failed their practicals this year (and this is the first time they ever conducted such exams).
4 comments:
thanks for the this post.at first i thought they were the same. I have a few questions here.
1)Do we call optometrist as doctor?
2)Do you think the optometrist is in demand in the future?
3)Do you know where is the best place in Malaysia to study optometry?
Thanks,hope i don't annoy you.
1)Optometrist are at the same group as pharmacist and radiologist. We are involved in allied health but we are not doctors. The only place in which an optometrist is called a doctor would be in the US since you need to do a double degree to qualify as an optometrist there.
2)I do think Optometrist are in demand. Once you graduate, you should be able to find a job easily. There is less then 1000 optometrist in Malaysia. Opticians out number us optometrist by more or less 3 folds.
3) I would say the best place in my opinion would be Tun Hussein Onn. This is completely my personal opinion though. If you are thinking of Government University then there is only UKM and recently I heard UiTM is offering the course as well.
Ugh, I met a friend of a friend who works in a shop. He called himself an optomerist! Just because he has a diploma and a MOC. He had the galls to argue that he's an optometrist. Outrageous.
Can't you guys fight to change the law? Make it the same as Britain. I'm sure there are universities which offer degrees, no? If people are too lazy to study for four years, then go do something else!
When I wanted to buy contact lenses here, the blody optometrist made me try different brands! Every week I had to go back to get my eyes checked, and have yellow dye dripped in =( Despite me telling them I've been using contact lense for a year, and have absolutely no problem with that brand. Grrr...
Ally,
The problem with our profession is a numbers game. There is too little optometrist around. Hence the loophole in the Optical Act. If your dad is a businessman, would you let your child study the ABDO 2 year cert in which he can come out and work at the age of 19 or let him go through pre-u and a 4 yrs optometry degree? He would be 24 yrs old by the time he graduate. A case of tunnel vision I would say.
What the optometrist did over there is understandable. Even if the optometrist is Malaysian graduate, he is not recognised at Aussie. So he need to start from scratch to cover his ass to avoid negligence. Takut kena sued lah!
Next time come buy contacts from me. I won't do all those messy steps and provide you with a big discount! But of course fluorescein exam is important :)
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