prescribing spectacles and contact lenses Optometrists are not doctors, yet they have had substantial training. All states and the District of Columbia require optometrists to earn a doctor of optometry degree from an approved optometry school, which is typically a four-year curriculum after at least three years of undergraduate work. 

The majority of optometry students have a bachelor's degree or higher. The optometrist must then pass a written and clinical board exam. Optometrists might work at outpatient clinics, retail optical stores, or independently. 

They employ tools and observation to assess eye health and measure visual acuity, depth perception, and colour perception, as well as the capacity to focus and coordinate the eyes. They examine the test results and devise a treatment strategy. This plan can then be handed to a dispensing optician for fitting and adjusting eyeglasses or contact lenses, or the optometrist may send the patient to an ophthalmologist, a medical practitioner who can perform surgery. 

Optometrist licences must be updated every one to three years due to constant improvements in eye care, and continuing education credits are necessary. Though some optometrists conduct research, the vast majority work with patients, therefore communication skills and a good demeanour are also required.