Abstract
The World Council of Optometry (WCO) defines optometry as a healthcare profession that is autonomous, educated, and regulated (licensed/registered). Optometrists are the primary healthcare practitioners of the eye and visual system, who provide comprehensive eye and vision care that includes refraction and spectacle dispensing, detection/diagnosis and management of diseases of the eye, and the rehabilitation of conditions of the visual system [1]. Despite this definition, there is great variation in training and scope of practice for optometrists across the world; South-East Asia is no exception. The WCO has recognized these variations and developed a competency model to identify the level at which the optometrists practice in different situations. There are four categories of optometrists based on the scope of practice and competencies [2] (Fig. 18.1) (Table 18.1).
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Change history
30 October 2021
The book was inadvertently published with the error in the affiliation of K. O. Tan as Hong Kong and now it is updated as Singapore with this erratum.
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Naidoo, K., Arvind, A., Abesamos-Dichoso, C., Tan, K.O., Govender-Poonsamy, P. (2021). Optometry in South-East Asia. In: Das, T., Nayar, P.D. (eds) South-East Asia Eye Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3787-2_18
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