Help, differences between optometry and orthoptics

What are the key differences as I dont wat to mess up my personal statement and interview... :p:

Are you applying for both? I did last year. You really need to shaddow both, so get in touch with your local hospital eye department!

Orthoptics is eye muscles and movements in a nutshell, wheras Optometry is refraction and lenses.

If you need more info, just ask! :smile:

Reply 2

TheGame1uk

Thanks! I might be applying to both but still im like 50-50 lol

Now for career prospects which one is better and which might be better in the future? furthermore what can a orthoptist do that a optometrist cant do?

Reply 3

White.Shadow

well optom pay is coming down, and orthoptics is on the up. I don't know if you are male or female, but if you're a man going into orthoptics, jobs are likely to be easier to get, as its a very female dominated career.

orthoptists know a lot more about squints etc. which optometrists generally don't understand (most fail the binocular vision PQE first time).

Erm.. what else??

Reply 4

madmazda86

DO NOT GET THE TWO AREAS CONFUSED IN YOUR INTERVIEW!! Seriously, some orthoptists can get really pissed about that. You have been warned! Yes, get work experience - work experience is compulsory if you're applying to Orthoptics. Contact your local hospital - if they don't have an orthoptic department they'll refer you to the nearest one that does.

Main differences between Orthoptics and Optometry:
1. Orthoptists work primarily in the hospitals, whereas Optometrists are based in the High Street (though you get some coming into hospitals to do things like Low Visual Aids, Contact Lenses etc.
2. Orthoptists do not prescribe glasses themselves - they do screen pre-school age children and do all the vision tests that the optometrists do, but they won't say "this child needs to have these glasses, here's your prescription" - instead they will refer onto an ophthalmologist or optometrist after indicating in the referral that the child has manifest/latent deviation or whatever. So yeah - they recommend, not prescribe.
3. Orthoptics is a much less subscribed for course than Optometry. Only two Unis offer it, and they rarely have full classes. High drop out rate - check out Liverpool University's Orthoptics Department website and the 2005 graduation photo; only ten final year graduates out of the 33 that originally applied for the course. Grade requirements for orthoptics are lower than optometry as well.
4. It's fairly easy to rise through the ranks in Orthoptics due to the staff shortages - while the basic pay grades still exist, Senior Grade II posts are saying "Newly qualified Orthoptists welcome".
5. Out of the two professions, I would say that Orthoptics has a greater variety and is the more challenging. That's my personal opinion though, so make of it what you will :wink:

In addition to this, there is more to being an orthoptist than just straightforward orthoptics - I did two weeks work experience with the orthoptic unit at Eastbourne and the department there does a LOT of extra stuff such as cataract preop assessments, glaucoma monitoring service, medical photography and so on in addition to their regular orthoptic clinics.

An orthoptist's primary job is to help balance the two eyes - this is why it is important that their input is heeded with regard to cataract operations, as if their advice is ignored (ie recommending that the patient doesn't have the operation) then the patient can end up with permanent double vision, which is a real bummer and can be very distressing. It's also very important in children - a child's vision stops developing after 8 years old; if any visual problems are not corrected by then, they're stuck with them for life. There are some people out there who are blind in one eye simply because the brain started ignoring the images received from that eye ever since they were tiny (i.e. amblyopia, or 'lazy eye') - an orthoptist can help to save the vision in that eye. Their job is very important and it's one of those things that can't really be prevented even with all the technology available today.

Hope that was of use!