I'll give you my take on it... and add fuel to this fire.
My frustration with SOME in optometry lies with the fact that the AOA attempts to increase scope of practice by paying off legislators. Bills show up in state houses every single year asking for surgical privileges for everything an ophthalmologists can do. Essentially asking for the right to perform EVERY ocular surgery. (Don't even think of arguing with this - see the original version of the OK, CA, NM laws). Even the law makers realize this is a bit ridiculous - but occasionally with enough lobbying, a few things slip through.
Just as optometrists are proud of their training, ophthalmologists are proud of theirs. I find gaining scope of practice through legislation ($) and not by showing competence or completing the needed training as very weak no matter what the field of work. I will also use the go to medical school if you want to start doing surgery. There is a route available to become a physician/surgeon. Anyone in this country can pursue it if they would like. I am a good example of this.
Many in optometry say. "I don't want to do surgery" "I'm not asking for this." Still, the AOA continues to do it and optometry may benefit from it, but do patients? While many (even most) optometrists and ophthalmologists get along fine, the AAO and AOA spend ridiculous amounts of resources fighting the scope of practice battle. On a national level, it creates negative energy among the two. I suspect this will only continue to increase as optometry continues to increase the number of graduates and finding a job becomes more challenging.
