Activity 2.4.4: Eye Care Professionals

Introduction Vision problems are fairly common and most conditions can easily be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. A routine eye exam assesses the structure and function of your eyes and provides a wealth of information to the eye care professionals who work to keep you seeing the world in crisp, color images. An exam can reveal simple problems with focus as well as more serious disorders of the eye.

Eye care professionals assess the health of your eyes and offer treatment in the case of injury or dysfunction. Depending on your personal situation or the severity of your eye problem, you may visit an ophthalmologist, an optometrist, or an optician.

In this activity, you will investigate the tests and procedures that go into a routine eye exam and use this information to create an informational handout. You will also research and describe different career paths in the field of vision. Equipment Computer with Internet access Career journal Procedure Part I: Anatomy of an Eye Exam 1. Use the Internet to research the tests and procedures that go into a routine eye exam. Think about how each test is related to the structure and function of the human eye. 2. With your partner, create an informational handout titled, “What You Need to Know about an Eye Exam.” On this handout, describe at least five, specific tests or procedures in a routine eye exam. Make sure to discuss what each procedure is testing for and describe what the results of the tests can say about the health of the eyes. Your final product should be eye-catching and informative, but it should not scare away your patients. Part II: Career Exploration 3. Complete the written portion of Part II in your career journal. 4. Use the Internet to research three different professionals in the field of vision care: an ophthalmologist, an optometrist and an optician. Begin your research using the website article listed in the next step. 5. Read and summarize the MedicineNet.com article Choosing an Eye Doctor available at http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp? articlekey=43039 in your career journal. Refer to the guidelines on the Outlining

© 2014 Project Lead The Way, Inc. Human Body Systems Activity 2.4.4 Eye Care Professionals – Page 1 and Summarizing handout. Make sure to reference general job duties, education requirements and specialized skills of each professional. 6. For each of the three health care professionals, describe the scenario of a patient who would come to see this specialist. Make sure that your scenarios make it clear why the patient is seeking help from an ophthalmologist, an optometrist or an optician. You may want to refer to the disorders of the eye you researched in Project 2.4.3 for ideas.