Many people on the web ask this question. This depends on your understanding on what a doctor is. If you mean, did they go through medical school, then the answer is no. Optometrists do their 5 or 6 year degree at University. Recently they have been officially allowed to call themselves doctors, so this can be confusing. Some Optometrists, like Dr Boneham, have a PhD. This gives them the academic title of doctor. In general though, most people nowadays understand the title doctor to mean someone who has studied at medical school. If that is the criteria you use then the answer is no. Some people ask this to determine whether they need to have a referral to see their Optometrist. The answer to that question is no, you do not need a referral to see an optometrist. Another question we are asked is whether we do surgery? Again the answer is no we do not do surgery. Ophthalmologists or eye specialists, do the surgery.

The main job of optometrists is testing the power of your eyes and determining the correct glasses or contact lens powers for your eyes and occupation. However more and more optometrists can prescribe drugs for eye infections and other eye conditions and optometrists play a big role in the detection of eye diseases. If you want to discuss this more please give us a call.