What is an ophthalmologist?

What's the difference between an ophthalmologist and an optometrist? It's a very confusing space for some patients. We talk about the three O's that are involved in your eye care. So there are opticians who fit you for glasses and so on. There are optometrists who are involved in primary eye care. They screen for disease, they do routine exams, they measure for glasses, and in some cases, treat some diseases. And collaboratively and cooperatively are involved in the care of some diseases. But in many cases, when there's a more serious eye disease or something that requires extensive treatment or surgical treatment, then they refer to ophthalmologists who are medical doctors who are trained in eye surgery and medical care of more complex conditions. Doctors of optometry attend a four-year... optometry school, but that's not medical school. So ophthalmologists do four years of medical school, graduate as physicians, and then go on to do five years of supervised clinical training in an accredited situation with regular evaluations under the tutelage of experienced eye surgeons.