Final answer:
An optometrist is not a surgeon but a healthcare professional who focuses on vision care, prescribing corrective lenses and identifying eye diseases. Surgeries like LASIK are performed by ophthalmologists, who are trained to conduct surgical eye procedures.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that an optometrist is a physician who can perform surgical procedures to treat diseases of the eye is false. Optometrists are trained professionals who can prescribe glasses and contact lenses, and they perform eye examinations to check for vision problems and eye diseases. However, they are not medical doctors and typically do not perform surgical procedures. Those procedures are carried out by an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor specializing in eye and vision care, including surgery for eye diseases and conditions such as myopia or hyperopia correction, for which LASIK surgery may be utilized.
During a routine eye exam, your vision will be assessed, and you might be prescribed lenses for conditions like myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness). Correcting these common vision issues has been made more effective with the advent of procedures such as LASIK, which has shown positive outcomes in over 90% of patients by finely reshaping the cornea to enhance vision.
Overall, while optometrists play a crucial role in vision health by diagnosing issues and recommending non-surgical treatments, they are not equipped to perform surgeries. For surgical interventions related to the eye, you would be referred to an ophthalmologist