What's the difference between an optometrist and an opthalmologist?!

What's the difference between an optometrist and an opthalmologist?

My mother-in-law insists that I should see an opthalmologist for my next contact lens/glasses prescription. Until now, I've only seen optometrists. Can I go to an opthalmologist if I'm only going for shortsightedness? Or do you have to have a more serious eye complaint? Thanks for your help.

2 months ago
Since I'm very gratefully receiving answers from both opthalmologists and optometrists, please let me know this: I've been wearing contacts for 20 years. In the last couple of months, I've been experiencing irritation/grittiness in my right eye whenever I wear my contacts and the right eye stings (back of eyelid) when I put the lens in. Do I see an opthalmologist or an optometrist about this? If it weren't for this problem, I'd simply go to the optometrist for my next contact/glasses script. Thanks for the clarification.

An optometrist is a doctor of Optometry.

An ophthalmologist is a doctor of Medicine with an extra three to five years of training in the specialty of ophthalmology. Under the specialty of Ophthalmology, there are several sub-specialties such as Retina, Glaucoma, External Disease, Neuro-Ophthalmology. etc.

In an IDEAL world, NO ONE ever gets in over his/her head, but unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. If your optometrist is a well trained, conscientious optometrist, he/she will NEVER attempt to treat something which is beyond his/her training. I have no problems with optometrists practicing the full extent of their training for as long as they know when to refer.

The eye is part of and intricately related to the rest of the body. There are several systemic disease conditions that manifest only in the eyes, but are not limited to the eye. This being the case, I believe that an ophthalmologist can provide a wider range of eye care, both medical and surgical.