Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans.

Like most health professions, optometry education, certification, and practice is regulated in most countries. Optometrists and optometry-related organizations interact with governmental agencies, other health care professionals, and the community to deliver eye and vision care. Optometry is one of two eye care professions, the other being ophthalmology (which is a branch of Medicine).
 

Optometrists, also known as optometric physicians, are primary health care providers for the eye and visual system. They examine, diagnose, and medically treat eye diseases, non-surgical injuries, and disorders of the eyes and visual system, including refractive problems such as near- or far-sightedness, and identify related systemic medical conditions affecting the eyes and ocular adnexa.

Optometrists may serve the general public; specialize in work with the elderly, children, or partially-sighted persons who need specialized visual devices; develop and implement ways to protect workers eyes from on-the-job strain or injury; or specialize in contact lenses, sports vision, or vision therapy.
 

Eye and vision examination

The typical optometric examination has four main components: Ocular and systemic history, assessement of neuro-muscular control, visual acuity and refraction, and ocular health examination.

History taking:

• Information is obtained about the patient including diseases that affect the body and the eyes, as well as information about the potential optical needs.

Neuro-muscular assessment:

• These tests evaluate potential deficits in not only the muscles that control the eye movements but also in the brain's ability to adequately control those muscles. For instance, strabismus (i.e. an "eye turn") can be caused by an improperly located eye muscle or a problem with that muscle receiving insufficient/excessive input from the brain.

Examination of the Optic characteristics of the eye:

• Measurement of the ability of the eye to resolve two objects, aka visual acuity.
• "Refraction," or choosing the combination of lenses that provides the best optical correction for the eye.

Examination of ocular health may include:

• Observation of pupillary reaction to light as a neurological test
• Observation of ocular adnexa, such as eyelids and eyelashes, as well as the lacrimal system, among others.
• Inspection of the external structures of the eye such as the cornea, anterior chamber, iris, and physiological lens. This is performed with an instrument known as a slit lamp, which allows the doctor to pass a "slit" of light through the cornea to assess the transparency, depth, and/or dimensions of many ocular structures and abnormal lesions.
• Inspection of the Retina and Optic Nerve. This is performed with high-powered magnifying lenses, often in combination with the slit lamp (mentioned above)to achieve very detailed images.
  
   
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