Editing Optometry (section)

===Europe===
Since the formation of the [[European Union]], "there exists a strong movement, headed by the Association of European Schools and Colleges of Optometry (AESCO), to unify the profession by creating a European-wide examination for optometry" and presumably also standardized practice and education guidelines within EU countries.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Hamakiotes DS, Thal LS |title=The unification of European optometry: how the profession will change after 1992 |journal=J Am Optom Assoc |volume=62 |issue=12 |pages=904–13 |date=December 1991 |pmid=1814983 }}</ref> The first examinations of the new European Diploma in Optometry were held in 1998 and this was a landmark event for optometry in continental Europe.<ref>Agarwal, R. (1998), European Diploma in Optometry, British Journal of Optometry and Dispensing, 6(3), 84.</ref>

====France====
As of July 2003, there was no regulatory framework and optometrists were sometimes trained by completing an apprenticeship at an ophthalmologists' private office.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.escrs.org/eurotimes/July2003/French_ophthalmology.asp|title=ESCRS - European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407131927/http://www.escrs.org/eurotimes/July2003/French_ophthalmology.asp|archive-date=7 April 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

====Germany====
Optometric tasks are performed by [[ophthalmologist]]s and professionally trained and certified [[optician]]s.

====Greece====
Hellenic Ministry of Education founded the first department of Optometry at [[Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece|Technological Educational Institute of Patras]] in 2007. After protests from the department of Optics at Technological Educational Institute of Athens (the only department of Optics in Greece, until 2006), the Government changed the names of the departments to "Optics and Optometry" and included lessons in both optics and optometry. Optometrists-Opticians have to complete a 4-year undergraduate honours degree. Then the graduates can be admitted to postgraduate courses in Optometry at universities around the world.

Since 2015, a Master of Science (MSc) course in Optometry is offered by the Technological Educational Institute of Athens.

The Institute of Vision and Optics (IVO) of the University of Crete focuses on the sciences of vision and is active in the fields of research, training, technology development and provision of medical services. [[Ioannis Pallikaris]] has received numerous awards and recognitions for the institute's contribution to [[ophthalmology]]. In 1989 he performed the first [[LASIK]] procedure on a [[human eye]].

====Hungary====
Optometrist education takes 4 years in the medical universities in Hungary, and they will get a Bachelor of Science degree. They work in networks and retail stores and private optics, very few are located in the Health Care care system as [[ophthalmologist]]s as an assistant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.optikaimagazin.hu/a-latszeresz-es-az-optometrista-kepzes-aktualis-helyzete-magyarorszagon/|title=A látszerész- és az optometrista-képzés aktuális helyzete Magyarországon - Optikai Magazin Online|date=1 October 2015}}</ref>

====Ireland====
The profession of Optometry has been represented for over a century by the Association of Optometrists, Ireland [AOI]. In [[Ireland]] an optometrist must first complete a four-year degree in optometry at [[Dublin Institute of Technology]]. Following successful completion of the degree, an optometrist must then complete professional qualifying examinations to enter the register of the Opticians Board [Bord na Radharcmhaistoiri]. Optometrists must be registered with the Board to practice in the Republic of Ireland.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

The A.O.I. runs a comprehensive continuing education and professional development program on behalf of Irish optometrists. The legislation governing optometry was drafted in 1956. Some feel that the legislation restricts optometrists from using their full range of skills, training and equipment for the benefit of the Irish public. The amendment to the Act in 2003 addressed one of the most significant restrictions: the use of [[cycloplegic]] drugs to examine children.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

====Italy====
The practice of optometry in Italy starts at the beginning of the 20th century; the historical practice of opticians date back to the 13th century. Optometry is traditionally taught as advanced study for opticians, currently as tertiary education (for example, in some private institutions, as Irsoo Vinci Institute near Firenze o IBZ Institute in Bologna and Milan). After 2001, nine  universities (Milan, [http://otticaoptometria.dfa.unipd.it/ Padua], Turin, [[University of Salento|Salento]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scienzemfn.unisalento.it/cdl_ottica_optometria|title=Facolta di Scienze MM.FF.NN. :: Corso di Laurea in Ottica ed Optometria - Università del Salento}}</ref> Florence, Naples, Rome, Perugia and Palermo) began similar three-year graduate courses (EQF level 6, equivalent to a BSc degree) of ''scienze e tecnologie fisiche'' (that is, "physical sciences and technologies") within physics departments. The degrees awarded in "optics and optometry" are classified in the family of physics degree, and do not allow recipients to practise optometry, per se; an external licence exam to become an ophthalmic optician is necessary to practise. Nevertheless, given that the practice of optometry is unregulated (notwithstanding that a specific code to start an optometry practice exists through the state), about one third of ophthalmic opticians are licensed to practise. As of 2025, in the current real-world practice, every optometrist is also licensed as an ophthalmic optician, and a minority of opticians have optometry education and practise optometry to a wide extent. It must be stressed that, in Italy, every optician can refract a patient autonomously (limited to myopia and presbyopia, but without age limits); opticians are part of the National Health System; and a [[dispensing optician]] (not a profession in the health field) has never been regulated. Over the past thirty years, several verdicts from the High Court prove that optometry is a free practice and has specific education path;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sopti.it/optometria-in-sintesi/ | title=OPTOMETRIA IN SINTESI |website=SOPTI - Società Optometrica Italiana}}</ref> its role is clearly different from those of ophthalmologist and orthoptist, and also from optician itself. Italian [[Italian National Institute of Statistics|Istat]] classification currently encompassses two professional roles: 3.2.1.6.1 – ''Ottici e ottici optometristi''.

====Norway====
In Norway, the optometric profession has been regulated as a healthcare profession since 1988. After a three-year bachelor program, one can practice basic optometry. At least one year in clinical practice qualify for a post-degree half-year [[sandwich course]] in contact lens fitting, which is regulated as a healthcare speciality. A separate regulation for the use of diagnostic drugs in optometric practice was introduced in 2004.

====Russia====
In [[Russia]], optometry education has been accredited by the Federal Agency of Health and Social Development.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}
There are only two educational institutions that teach optometry in Russia: Saint Petersburg Medical Technical College, formerly known as St. Petersburg College of Medical Electronics and Optics, and The Helmholtz Research Institute for Eye Diseases. They both belong and are regulated by the Ministry of Health. The optometry program is a four-year program. It includes one to two science foundation years, one yer focused on clinical and proficiency skills, and one year of clinical rotations in hospitals. Graduates take college/state [[examinations]] and then receive a specialist [[diploma]]. This diploma is valid for only five years and must be renewed every five years after receiving additional training at state-accredited programs.

The scope of practice for optometrists in Russia includes refraction, contact lens fitting, spectacles construction and lens fitting (dispensing), low vision aids, foreign body removal, referrals to other specialists after clinical condition diagnoses (management of diseases in the eye).

====United Kingdom====
===== Licensing =====
Optometrists in the United Kingdom are regulated by the [[General Optical Council]] under the Opticians Act 1989 and distinguished from medical practitioners.<ref name="Opticians Act 1989">[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/44/pdfs/ukpga_19890044_en.pdf Opticians Act 1989] (cap. 44)</ref> Registration with the GOC is mandatory to practice optometry in the UK. Members of the [[College of Optometrists]] (incorporated by a Royal Charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)<ref name="Agarwal, R. 1995">Agarwal, R. (1995), A Royal Charter for optometrists, British Journal of Optometry and Dispensing, 3 (3), 100</ref> may use the suffix MCOptom.

The [[National Health Service]] provides free sight tests and spectacle vouchers for children and those on very low incomes. The elderly and those with some chronic conditions like diabetes get free periodic tests.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/|title=Free NHS eye tests and optical vouchers|publisher=NHS|date=2018-08-14}}</ref> Treatment for eye conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts is free and checked for during normal eye examinations.

===== Training =====
In the [[United Kingdom]], optometrists have to complete a 4-year undergraduate honours degree followed by a minimum of a one-year internship, "pre-registration period", during which they complete clinical practice under the supervision of a qualified and experienced practitioner. During this year the pre-registration candidate is given a number of quarterly assessments, often including temporary posting at a hospital, and on successfully passing all of these assessments, a final one-day set of examinations (details correct for candidates from 2006). Following successful completion of these assessments and having completed one year's supervised practice, the candidate is eligible to register as an optometrist with the [[General Optical Council]] (GOC) and, should they so wish, are entitled to membership of the [[College of Optometrists]]. Twelve universities offer Optometry in the UK: [[Anglia Ruskin University|Anglia Ruskin]], [[Aston University|Aston]], [[University of Bradford|Bradford]], [[Cardiff University|Cardiff]], [[City, University of London|City]], [[Glasgow Caledonian University|Glasgow Caledonian]], [[University of Hertfordshire|Hertfordshire]], [[University of Manchester|Manchester]], [[University of Plymouth|Plymouth]], [[University of Portsmouth|Portsmouth]], [[Ulster University at Coleraine|Ulster at Coleraine]] and [[University of the West of England|West of England]]. {{update | list of universities appears very inaccurate|date=April 2024}}

In 2008 the UK moved forward to offer the Doctor of Optometry postgraduate programme. This became available at the [[Institute of Optometry]] in London in partnership with [[London South Bank University]].<ref>Agarwal, R. (2008), Integrating theory with practice, Optician, Volume 236, number 6167, page 12.</ref><ref>Agarwal, R. (2014), Developing the doctorate, Optician, volume 247, number 6439, page 26.</ref>  The Doctor of Optometry postgraduate degree is also offered at one other UK institution: [[Aston University]].

===== Scope of Practice =====
In 1990, a survey of the opinions of British medical practitioners regarding the services provided by British optometrists was carried out by Agarwal<ref>Agarwal, R. (1996), British optometry: medical practitioner's opinion survey, British Journal of Optometry and Dispensing, 4(2), 50-52.</ref> at City, University of London. A majority of respondents were in favour of optometrists extending their professional role by treating external eye conditions and prescribing broad-spectrum topical antibiotics through additional training and certification.

Since 2009, optometrists in the UK have been able to undertake additional postgraduate training and qualifications that allow them to prescribe medications to treat and manage eye conditions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.college-optometrists.org/en/CPD/Therapeutics/independent-prescribing/index.cfm |title=Independent Prescribing|website=The College of Optometrists}}</ref>  There are currently three registerable specialities:
* Additional supply speciality – to write orders for, and supply in an emergency, a range of drugs in addition to those ordered or supplied by a normal optometrist.
* Supplementary prescribing speciality – to manage a patient's clinical condition and prescribe medicines according to a clinical management plan set up in conjunction with an independent prescriber, such as a GP or ophthalmologist or qualified optometrist.
* Independent prescribing specialty – to take responsibility for the clinical assessment of a patient, establish a diagnosis and determine the clinical management required, including prescribing where necessary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.optical.org/en/Education/Specialty_qualifications/Therapeutic_Prescribing_Specialties.cfm|title=Therapeutic Prescribing specialties|first=Liz|last=Carr}}</ref>

Optometrists in the United Kingdom are able to diagnose and manage most ocular diseases, and may also undertake further training to perform certain surgical procedures.