Eyeing success in visual health
PEOPLE say that seeing is believing. And out of the five senses that we have, vision is the most important.
Losing one’s sight means a significant change in lifestyle and habits as one has to relearn how to orientate oneself. So, maintaining good vision goes a long way towards success in life.
Comprehensive eye examination
A full eye examination typically takes about 30 minutes to an hour and helps ophthalmic diagnoses narrow down the cause of potential diseases, identify the need for further investigation and reveal symptoms that need urgent attention.
Tests will follow for visual acuity, pupil and muscle response, as well as depth of perception.
Defects in colour vision will also be screened before the eye refraction is tested for short-sightedness, longsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia (long-sightedness caused by the eye lens losing its elasticity due to age).
The patient’s binocular vision will next be tested for both eyes working together and for eye muscle function, while the eye physiology is examined for its anterior (front) and posterior (back) health.
Importance of eye examinations
In this age of digitisation and social media, increased exposure to digital devices gives rise to related problems such as myopia. If left uncorrected in children, it may affect their performance in school.
In adults, the prevalence of eye strain, vision fatigue, headaches and more can affect work productivity. Annual eye examinations help establish a baseline for preventive management.
Permanent vision loss can be arrested in its tracks when the eye condition is monitored regularly, and “silent” cases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts can be brought to light early.
Primary eye care consultation
Ophthalmologists study in medical schools before specialising in ophthalmology and can perform cataract surgery, LASIK and other corrective lasering, eye injections as well as prescribe medicines.
Optometrists are qualified, licensed practitioners who are able to determine one’s vision status and eye ability to function simultaneously.
They do not perform any surgery and can only prescribe glasses, contact lenses, vision therapy, prescriptions of artificial tears and planning specific non-surgical management regimes.
In Malaysia, optometrists hold a green certificate and the Annual Practising Certificate from the Malaysia Optical Council, both of which must be renewed every year. In Malaysia, licensed opticians can also perform refraction and prescribe basic contact lenses.
Eye examinations can be done by all registered optometrists and opticians, although comprehensive primary eye care examinations are usually done by optometrists.
What optometrists can do for you
There are optometrists who specialise in paediatric, geriatric, contact lenses, low vision and binocular vision, while ocularists specialises in crafting fake eyes.
Usually, optometry management consists of lens or contact lens prescription. Also available are rehabilitation and treatment, say for a child who needs bifocal, multifocal, hard contact lenses or lenticular lenses.
At Management & Science University (MSU) Eye Centre, one optometry specialisation is Orthoptics (cases involving squints).
Due to the high demand and potential in Optometry and Visual Science specialisations, MSU offers a Bachelor of Optometry (Hons) and Diploma of Ophthalmic Dispensing programme under the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences (FHLS).
The university is ranked by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the Times Higher Education, the Accreditation Services for International Schools, Colleges & Universities and the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial & Engaged Universities accredited; it is committed to excellence in delivering quality human capital across critical-need areas of the global workplace.
The 38-year-old MSU is also a QS Top 100 University among the world’s Top 50 Under 50, ranking at No.183 for graduate employability and 201+ for relationship with employers. It has 98.7% of its graduate employability, ranking No.1 according to the Ministry of Education Malaysia.