futuredoctorOD said:
Your comments are foolish and unprofessional. Optometrists are primary care eye doctors...I will be doing a residency in ocular disease with either the VA or an eye institute--a 2 year one. Your comment about a lense fitter is a joke. Schools like Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry have an interdisciplinary program----many of the basic science courses of the first two years are shared by the Osteopathic Medical students...Just a word of advice---behave professionally--becoming an allopath or osteopath is a great accomplishment (so is becoming an optometrist) start acting like it.
This forum is becoming less about real scope of practice issues and more about who has the larger ego... Permit me to bring some more perspective into the discussion (aka add feul to the fire). I'm finishing my 4th year at NSU and am currently shadowing an opthalmologist. I've not only taken classes with the ODs but also work with quite a few of them while on primary care rotations through the NSU clinic. There is indeed an interdisciplinary curriculum at NSUCOM; this idea of a team approach to health care spills over into the clinical realm as well. What is interesting is that ODs and DOs do take some of the exact same classes. While slugging through neuroanatomy, it was not uncommon to hear comments like:
"I don't understand why the DO students complain so much... we take the same classes.."
or
"We do the same things as the DOs for the first two years.."
or
"We have the same exams as the medical students.."
On paper, this is correct. In actuality, however, subtle differences exist. The OD students sit through similar lectures. Specifically, they take the head and neck anatomy with the medical students. Their written and practical examinations are different as is their 'wet lab' requirement. They are not required to prosect and do not take histology or pathology with the medical students. Does this make them any less prepared for primay care of the eye? Absolutely not! While they may not share the 'exact same classes' as the DO students, I'm sure they spend much more time on optometric-specific subjects. The job of the future OD is quite different from the career of the future osteopathic physician, and the discipline-specific curriculum reflects these necessary differences.
Trying to argue which curriculum is more intensive is an endeavor in futility. I don't think any optometrist would argue which professional is better suited to manage a brittle diabetic with chronic renal failure. Similarly, I find it hard to believe that a generalist osteopath or allopath would think themselves better qualified to medically manage glaucoma patients.
Its clear that tensions rise when the debate turns to the controversial issues of practice scope. Since optometrists are eye physicians (for lack of a more agreeable term), it makes sense that their professional societies want to ensure future viability and growth. As specialists in the field, opthalmologists will understandably be concerned over potential territory disputes.
In clinical practice, I've seen few if any professional disagreements over referrals or appropriate diagnosis and treatment. I'm shadowing a glaucoma specialist. He gets patients from ODs, DOs, MDs, and emergency rooms. His practice depends on a good working relationship between the professions. As physicians, everyone has an ethical obligation to act in the patient's best interest. I would guess that everyday clinical practice bears this out. Indeed, many ophthalmologists partner with ODs to expand their practice base.
I would hope that future scope of practice regulations take each profession's expertise and curriculum into accout. Patients need lens fitters, primary care docs, eye surgeons, and eye physicians. It seems that ODs and MDs/DOs will work together for the forseeable future. As inevitable colleagues, it seems prudent to stay away from disparaging each others education and instead shift the focus to more pressing issues like arranging a mutally beneficial working relationship.
If that doesn't pan out, then there's always these entertaining and lively mud-fests here on SDN.
-Pushinepi2