Eyes play an important role in everyday life and thus are an essential part of one’s life. When it comes to their health, there are two types of eye specialists are available; optometrists and ophthalmologists. Optometrists can prescribe medication to treat various conditions but do not perform surgery while ophthalmologists also perform surgery for the complex eye disease. The right ophthalmologist can not only help in treating various eye conditions but can also guide with general eye care practices that reduce the risk of eye damage or vision condition. It therefore becomes important to find the right ophthalmologist for the right treatment and care.

Discussed below are some of the factors that can be considered to find the right ophthalmologist;

The recommendation can always be helpful because these are the first-hand experience from the people around. The best people to ask for the recommendation are friends and family for they always share the honest experience without any biasing. References from the family physician or the pediatrician should also be considered. The Internet is also another useful and helpful resource in today’s world of technology. References also help in finding out the specialists in case one has a complex condition of glaucoma, retina, or cornea.

The medical practitioners are professionally qualified in the field of their expertise and are also certified by the concerned authorities. The medical qualification, training institute and the certification of various medical practitioners are available on government and concerned hospital’s websites. It is therefore advised to always consider these factors while looking for the right ophthalmologist. Though the medical qualification is important but in complex cases where surgery is required, the ophthalmologist with experience of previous surgeries and fellowship with other experienced seniors is an added advantage.

When one visits the ophthalmologist, communication skills of the ophthalmologists play an important role because there are many questions that one needs to answer so that ophthalmologist understands the problem and suggest the best treatment. The question-answer session yields best results when the ophthalmologist develops an easy rapport with the patient making them comfortable instead of anxious about their condition. Also, patients need to feel like another human to the ophthalmologist rather than another case study.

In the world of extended human interactions, one can also check for the reviews from fellow patients. These are available on various survey portals and at the hospitals. These reviews are about the overall experience of the patients with the ophthalmologist; the general atmosphere of the hospital, how easy or difficult is it to fix an appointment, how much time does the ophthalmologist spend with the patients, the waiting time, and other such things.
Once an ophthalmologist is found, it is advised to check with the insurance company if that hospital and ophthalmologists is covered under their scheme or not.