Surgery on or around the human eye is not something to be taken lightly. First of all, it's important to really make clear that ophthalmology training has to include not only the technical skills to perform a procedure but also the medical knowledge that's needed to analyze when surgery is clinically indicated. Anything else you want to point out that separates those two?ĭr. You just covered an important part in terms of the training and education. Unger: So let's talk a little bit more about that because, for those of the folks out there that are patients, it might not exactly be clear that difference between optometrist and ophthalmologist. Optometrists, in contrast, would have completed a 32-hour weekend training course for these procedures compared to physicians who completed at least a four-year residency program. And they understand when procedures should or should not be performed. They have extensive supervised post-operative care. And ophthalmologists undergo a four-year residency after medical school with large numbers of patients that are supervised by clinical and full-time faculty during this experience, as well as by senior residents and even fellows who've already completed their residency training.ĭuring that extended period of supervised education, ophthalmologists learn the indications for surgery. So this included removing growths from the eyelids, which an optometrist judged as, quote, "non-cancerous" by appearance only, lasers for control of chronic glaucoma, lasers for treating acute glaucoma and lasers for what is known as a secondary cataract that occurs after primary cataract surgery. The bill would have allowed optometrists to perform eye surgeries that required the use of a scalpel, as well as an injection, as well as anterior segment laser. Aizuss: So California Assembly Bill AB 2236 would have allowed optometrists to perform advanced eye procedures, including surgery after completing minimal additional training. Why don't you just start by telling us more about the bill itself?ĭr. And that bill would have increased the scope of practice for some optometrists. At the end of September, California Governor Newsom vetoed it. I'm Todd Unger, AMA's chief experience officer in Chicago. David Aizuss, an ophthalmologist in Calabasas, California, and a member of the AMA Board of Trustees. Today, we're talking about a bill in California that would have allowed optometrists to perform advanced eye procedures including surgery and how AMA and state advocacy helped defeat it.įighting this kind of scope creep is an important pillar of the AMA's recovery plan for America's physicians. Unger: Hello and welcome to the AMA Update, our video and podcast series.
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