"Optometrists Often First to Detect Brain Tumours"
While brain tumours are relatively rare, it's not uncommon for an optometrist to be the first health-care practitioner to detect them, reports the BC Association of Optometrists.
"Optometrists Often First to Detect Brain Tumours"
While brain tumours are relatively rare, it's not uncommon for an optometrist to be the first health-care practitioner to detect them, reports the BC Association of Optometrists.
Look you got O.D.'s that find one or two in a career. I know O.M.D.'s that find and remove several a week. You need a medical doctor for a medical problem. Some opticans have on occasion, myself included that have suspected brain tumor, glaucomma, catarac's, dendritic ulcers and detached retina's. We sent the to the ophthalmologist and sometimes we were right in our suspicions sometimes not.
I am not putting the O.D.'s down , just saying this is a medical problem and it needs a medical doctor.
Chip
Hmmn, Perhaps you havent heard of the Optomap....itis a digital retinal scan that is next to a miracle. I am sick of the trash talk. An MD near my office, yes a competitor said it best when he told my patient the difference between an od and md, he said, and I am quoting, we can preform surgeries and we charge more.
My Doc can diagnose and treat, and he does alot of that, he can remove foreign bodies he can and often has to prescribe the right meds for many situations, yup not just an eye infection but glaucoma and the likes. In addition to that he has a great relationship with many family dr's whom use our office as a strong referral source for many medical conditions. I am not discounting the abilty of an MD but Ill be darned if Ill continue to allow and OD to take heat when after many years of college and many many ce courses later My boss is one hell of a DOCTOR. I am sorry for whom ever you represent becuase you have one jacked up bad attitude. By the way, even insurance companies recognize the capabilities of OD's. They have come far, you apparantly are hanging out in a very small little optical world where ODs just refract. Sorry if I sound crabby but I am sick of the OD trash talk!
Last edited by cinders831; 05-05-2005 at 09:26 PM.
You are going to be surprised how many tumors you can find by performing a simple Visual Field!!!!
Let me also say that I am in no way discounting the medical brilliance of and OMD but I just hate to here OD's constantely belittled.
Well said Lenny.
If you read between the lines, there is another issue here. BC optometrists are not trying to get into the brain tumor business. By sending out this press release, they are reinforcing the public perception of them as "primary medical eyecare providers."
Opticians can learn a lesson here. It's not about which professional knows the most. It's a question of which PERCEIVED role you play in the mind of the public. If the public sees optometrists as playing the role of "eyeglass tester", then what happens when opticians can refract?
The BC OD's are protecting their future by repositioning themselves. Opticians must do the same, but in the opposite direction.
How did this become an O.D Vs O.M.D. issue? I think all that was said is that an eye exam can reveal more that just refractive errors or certain eye diseases but it can also reveal a life threatening illness. And I think article was talking about detection not treatment. I don't think that an O.D. is going to crack open the patients head and pull that sucker out...ooh but what if there are some that do! Thats a scarry thought!
well said optidonn.Originally Posted by OPTIDONN
Optometry has become the primary source of eyecare, just within the short span of my carreer. This is troubling to many of my peers.What those who belittle optometry fail to recognise, is that they've done it through education and "positioning". I applaud the profession, and the blueprint they have given the third O. Why do we continue to let the torch lay in the road. Rather than bash those who have gone on before, why not pick up the torch!Originally Posted by cinders831
"Always laugh when you can. It is a cheap medicine"
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maybe the answer is in the fact that people with brain tumors experience headaches and visual changes first and then speech difficulties, limb weakness, vomiting etc. So naturally they associate headaches with vision and see an eye doctor before the speech therapist.Originally Posted by Jason Carruthers
Jason Carruthers
If you read between the lines, there is another issue here. BC optometrists are not trying to get into the brain tumor business. By sending out this press release, they are reinforcing the public perception of them as "primary medical eyecare providers."
Opticians can learn a lesson here. It's not about which professional knows the most. It's a question of which PERCEIVED role you play in the mind of the public. If the public sees optometrists as playing the role of "eyeglass tester", then what happens when opticians can refract?
The BC OD's are protecting their future by repositioning themselves. Opticians must do the same, but in the opposite direction.[/QUOTE]
Well said Jason. You have a valid point but to get Opticians to go in that direction is another thing. LC uses the same tactic when trying to direct people into there stores. The people now have the preception that LC is like what used to be our domain as profesional Opticains. Now we are just considered clerks even though LC has more clerks per store with the average
of one maybe two licensed people who might know a PD stick from a temple
then again maybe not. You know the PD stick does look a little like a temple if you catch it in the right light. Just my 2 cents
yes it is hard for an optometrist to detect brain tumor. but there are some symptoms which affects eye when a person is affected with brain tumors. some symptoms are changes in vision associated with brain tumors which leads in difficulty to watch tv, sometime it leads to difficult to read.
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