Optometrist welcomes wider scope

SYDNEY — Dr. Chelsea Kayed didn't become an optometrist just so she could write prescriptions for eyeglasses.

And now, thanks to a recent change in provincial legislation, she can provide a much wider scope of services to her patients.

Kayed, who has been practising at Vogue Optical on the Esplanade in Sydney for the past year, said it was a “huge win for Nova Scotia” when the Department of Health announced in November that optometrists can diagnose and supervise glaucoma, as well as prescribe oral antibiotics and oral antivirals to treat styes, cellulitis and herpes infections.

“I was quite happy about it — I was probably the happiest person in Nova Scotia,” Kayed said. “I didn't go to school just to prescribe glasses — I wanted to be an optometrist to treat and manage people's eye diseases.”

Born in Newfoundland, Kayed grew up in Kingston, Ont., and began her career in that province in 2014 before moving to Alberta. She said she came to Cape Breton because there was a need for optometrists and the island offers a slower pace of life for her and her young family.

However, it was often exasperating when she couldn't use the full range of her training and skills.

“It was very frustrating and it just made trying to help people more difficult. I know what someone has, I know what they need, I know what to do, but because of legislation I was unable to do it. That was definitely tough, especially coming from Alberta, which has the widest scope of practice in the whole country for optometry,” said Kayed, who has seen roughly 2,500 patients this past year while performing about 2,700 examinations.

“It was frustrating for myself and my patients because they'd have to go to a walk-in clinic, or they'd have to wait a day or two to hear back from their family doctor, or they'd have to go to emergency.”

But Kayed said many people still don't understand that optometrists do much more than determine the strength of their glasses and contact lenses.

She said her colleagues are really the primary eye-care providers in the health-care system and can diagnose, treat and manage most eye diseases that don't require surgical intervention by an ophthalmologist.

“Every single person who comes for an examination is checked for cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal holes, tears, detachments, dry eyes — if they have a problem we're able to treat it and fix them,” she explained.

“We should really be the ones people go to first and then see an ophthalmologist if they need surgery.”

CHRIS CONNORS • CAPE BRETON POST Dr. Chelsea Kayed, an optometrist based out of Vogue Optical on the Esplanade in Sydney, said recent changes in provincial legislation that allow her to offer a much wider scope of services to her patients are a “huge win for Nova Scotia.”