Two Days into #2020, and I'm Already Tired of the #Ophthalmological Joke ... but What IS 20/20 Vision anyway? @AAO_ophth (American Academy of #Ophthalmology) Answers @Diffen #Ophthalmologist

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You go to 'your ophthalmologist' (eye-professional a.k.a. your optometrist ... I forget the difference between the two), and–if your visual acuity is too much worse than '20/20' (that's '6/6' outside the U.S.)–the eye-professional gives you a 'prescription.'

Trying to remember what the 20/20 prescription meant, I thought it was something 'Ole` West' ... like "shooting 20 beer-bottles at 20 paces"; but it's actually more like one of those 'popular opinion'-polls—it means that–standing 20 feet away from 'the standard chart'–you can read  as much of it as "the average person" can read if they're standing 20 feet away.

("20/15" - you can read from 20 feet what 'the average person' can only read if they stand at 15 feet; "20/200" (legally blind) - most people can read from 200 feet what you have to be 20 feet away to read)

So you see that–when you're at your ophthalmologist to test your vision–you're also helping to "set the standard" for all other tests the Ophthalmological Academy measures!

'That word' (below-hyperlinked to the AAO's explanation of the 20/20-acuity) is built on an even-deeper source ... something crucial that firms the foundation upon which our lexicon stands ...

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The word “Ophthalmologist” is built on words that mean “to See + |Inner |Room (see |Thalamus) + -Logy” (see |Eye, Eye-|Socket).

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The difference between an ophthalmologist and an optometrist? It's kinda shady ... I think I remember my ophthalmologist telling me something like 'The optometrist is just the one who has the license to use the eye-exam equipment, while the ophthalmologist also examines the whole skull and sees how it all factors into your eyesight.'

Or maybe she only said part of that, and I filled in the rest—because Diffen tells us that 'an ophthalmologist is a "Medical Physician," while an optometrist is only a "Healthcare Professional."'

I guess the main difference is that ophthalmologists can perform surgery & advanced eye-treatment, while optometrists can only examine your eye-sight, assist in vision-therapy & refer you to an ophthalmologist when you need a deeper diagnosis.

Or am I looking at that wrong (or 'wrongly' 🤓)? Tell
 me how-wrong/right I am in the comments below 😁