Celebrate World Optometry Day at Eyeglass World!

Saturday, March 23rd is World Optometry Day, marking the kick off of World Optometry Week. And, at Eyeglass World, we want to celebrate.

World Optometry Day and Week were holidays commissioned to create awareness about optometry as a profession. Optometry is the practice of examining eyes for visual defects and prescribing corrective lenses.

Without optometrists most of us would be in trouble. We’d be straining to see our phones or read the street signs. Kids with undiagnosed vision problems would never learn to read, altering the course of their futures. Optometrists play a vital role in keeping us healthy because they make sure we can see the danger all around us!

In honor of World Optometry Week, here are a few interesting facts you may not know about Optometrists:

1. Optometrists must complete four years of college plus four years of optometry school.
2. Then, they must pass a licensing test administered by the state they wish to practice in.
3. Once practicing, Optometrists see an average of 67 patients a week.
4. Part of the job of an Optometrist is to determine refractive errors of the eyes. This requires them to do a variety of tests on each patient to determine a precise prescription for correcting these errors.
5. Another part of the job is to fit the patient in eyeglasses or contact lenses.
6. Optometrists can play a key role in diagnosing other diseases like diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressu

   re, or even cancer.

7. Around the globe there are nearly 250,000 Optometrists.
8. About 41,000 optometrists reside in the United States (as of 2014). As a group, they do about 94 million eye exams annually.
9. Though new technologies have been invented to diagnose refractive errors and help “do the job of the Optometrist,” these computers aren’t as reliable as once expected. A licensed doctor of optometry still must check the computers work because errors are common.

When’s the last time you had your eyes checked by a licensed Optometrist? If it’s been a while, stop by your closest Eyeglass World, go online, or call to set up your next eye exam.

We believe the best way to celebrate World Optometry Week is to keep your eyes healthy! Let Eyeglass World be a part of your journey to better eye health!