Optometrists need comprehensive and relevant training so that they can deliver good standards of eye care. Optometrists must complete an undergraduate university degree in optometry. Optometrists who have progressed through their training and become Members of the College of Optometrists will be allowed to use MCOptom after their name which means that they are expected to adhere to a high standard of clinical practice. All optometrists practising in the UK must be registered with the General Optical Council, the profession’s regulatory body. Once registered, optometrists have the opportunity to take further qualifications and develop their interests in specialist areas of practice.
Some optometrists will have special interests and will embark on further study in order to gain additional speciality qualifications. Optometrists who have independent prescribing qualifications, for example, are allowed to prescribe medicines for a range of ocular conditions as long as it is within their scope of practise.