License: Optometrist

Mississippi State Board of Optometry Licensing Board Management Services external site

P.O. Box 12370

Jackson, MS 39236-2370

(601) 919-1343

General information terms and definitions: Diagnostic Optometrist – An optometrist certified to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents. Therapeutic Optometrist – An optometrist certified to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. NBEO – National Board of Examiners in Optometry The practice of optometry is defined to be the application of optical principles, through technical methods and devices in the examination of human eyes for the purpose of ascertaining departures from the normal, measuring their functional powers and adapting or prescribing optical accessories, including spectacles, contact lenses and low-vision devices, for the aid thereof, including, but not limited to, the use of computerized or automated refracting devices, lenses and prisms, vision therapy and low-vision rehabilitation therapy. The practice of optometry shall include the prescribing and use of therapeutic pharmaceutical agents by optometrists certified under the applicable laws, rules and regulations. The practice of optometry shall not include the performing of any invasive surgery including laser surgery, but shall not preclude the removal of superficial foreign bodies from the eye or other noninvasive procedures. Nothing in this section or any other provision of law shall be construed to prohibit optometrists who have been certified under the applicable laws, rules and regulations from providing post-ophthalmic surgical or clinical care and management with the advice and consultation of the operating or treating physician. It shall not be lawful for any person in this state to engage in the practice of optometry or to hold himself out as a practitioner of optometry, or attempt to determine by an examination of the eyes the kind of glasses needed by any person, or to hold himself out as able to examine the eyes of any person for the purpose of fitting the same with glasses, excepting those hereinafter exempted, unless he has first fulfilled the requirements of the law and has received a certificate of licensure from the Mississippi State Board of Optometry, nor shall it be lawful for any person in this state to represent that he is the lawful holder of a certificate of licensure such as provided for in the law, when in fact he is not such lawful holder or to impersonate any licensed practitioner of optometry, or to fail to register the certificate as provided by law. License Requirements: Any person over the age of twenty-one (21) years, of good moral character, and who has graduated from a high school or preparatory school affiliated with and recognized by a state university, and who has graduated from a reputable school or college of optometry, shall be entitled to stand the examination for license to practice optometry in Mississippi. The examining Board of Optometry shall keep on file a list of schools or colleges of optometry which are recognized by said board. The examination to practice optometry shall consist of tests in practical, theoretical and physiological optics, in theoretical and practical optometry and in anatomy and physiology of the eye and in pathology as applied to optometry. The State Board of Optometry shall not examine or certify any optometrist in any therapeutic procedures unless the optometrist has successfully completed the proper didactic education and supervised clinical training taught by an institution accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization that is recognized or approved by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation of the United States Department of Education, or its successor, and approved by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy. Every person desiring to be licensed as in this chapter provided, shall file with the secretary of the Mississippi State Board of Optometry an application, verified by oath, setting forth the facts which entitle the applicant to examination and licensure under the provisions of this chapter. The state board shall hold at least two (2) examinations each year. In case of failure at any examination the applicant, after the expiration of six (6) months and within two (2) years, shall have the privilege of a second examination by the board without the payment of an additional fee. In the case of any applicant who shall fail the examination twice, said applicant shall not be permitted to again take the examination until he has completed a further course of study outlined by the board and paid the examination fee therefor. Every applicant who shall pass the examination, and who shall otherwise comply with the provisions of this chapter, shall receive from the state board under its seal a certificate of licensure entitling him to practice optometry in this state, which certificate shall be duly registered in a record book to be properly kept by the secretary of the board for that purpose, which shall be open to public inspection, and a duly certified copy of said record shall be received as evidence in all courts of this state in the trial of any case. Nothing in this law shall be construed as conferring on the holder of any certificate of licensure issued by the MS State board of Optometry the title of oculist, ophthalmologist, or any other word or abbreviation indicating that he is engaged in the practice of medicine or surgery, or the treatment or the diagnosis of diseases of, or injuries to, the human eye, or the right to use drugs or medicines in any forms for the treatment or examination of the human eye. Optometrists who have been certified by the MS State board of Optometry under the applicable provisions of the laws, rules and regulations may use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents in the practice of optometry in accordance with the requirements of the applicable provisions, and optometrists who have been certified by the board under the applicable provisions of the laws, rules and regulations may use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents in the practice of optometry in accordance with the requirements of the applicable provisions. Nothing contained in the applicable current laws shall be construed as expanding the scope of practice of a licensed optometrist beyond that authorized prior to July 1, 1991. (1) Before any optometrist or any applicant for a license to practice optometry may be certified to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents as authorized in the applicable provisions of the law, he shall submit satisfactory evidence to the State Board of Optometry that he has successfully completed a course or courses in pharmacology as they apply to optometry, with particular emphasis on the topical application of diagnostic pharmaceutical agents to the eye, and any additional educational requirements prescribed by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy. Such course or courses in pharmacology and any additional educational requirements prescribed shall be completed at an institution accredited by a regional professional accreditation organization that is recognized or approved by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation or the United States Department of Education or its successors and approved by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy. (2) Upon the successful completion of all specified educational requirements, any optometrist or any applicant for a license to practice optometry who desires certification to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents as authorized in the applicable provisions of this law shall satisfactorily pass an examination administered by the State Board of Optometry. Such examination shall be prepared by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy. No credit for such examination may be given unless the applicant for certification has achieved a score equal to or greater than a score which is generally accepted in medical schools as a passing score for the same subject areas of the examination, as determined by the State Board of Optometry. All examinations and scores shall be made available for inspection to the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy through their designated members. (3) The additional educational requirements necessary to become certified to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents may be completed simultaneously with the educational requirements necessary to become licensed to practice optometry or may be completed after the person is licensed to practice optometry. Any applicant for a license to practice optometry who has met the additional educational requirements for certification to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents may take the examination to become licensed to practice optometry and the examination to become certified to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents at the same time. Any pharmacist licensed under the laws of the State of Mississippi is hereby authorized to dispense those diagnostic pharmaceutical agents specified in the applicable provisions of this law to any optometrist certified by the MS State Board of Optometry to use such agents. (1) Any optometrist certified to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents as provided in the applicable provisions of the laws, rules and regulations also may be certified to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents when he has satisfactorily completed the following: (a) A course consisting of a minimum of sixty-four (64) hours of didactic education as defined by rule or regulation of the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy, with particular emphasis on the examination, diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the eye and adnexa. Such course shall be provided by an institution accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization that is recognized or approved by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation of the United States Department of Education, or its successor, and approved by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy; and (b) A minimum of eighty (80) hours of supervised clinical training as it applies to optometry with particular emphasis on the examination, diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the human eye and adnexa, by an institution accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization that is recognized or approved by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation of the United States Department of Education, or its successor, and approved by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy; and (c) Such other requirements as may be determined by the board. (2) Upon the successful completion of all specified educational and clinical requirements provided by an institution accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization that is recognized or approved by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation of the United States Department of Education, or its successor, and approved by the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy, any optometrist who desires certification to prescribe and use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents shall satisfactorily pass a written examination approved by the State Board of Optometry, with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy. The applicant for certification must achieve a score equal to or greater than a score that is generally accepted in medical schools as a passing score for the same subject areas of examination, as determined by the State Board of Optometry. All examinations and scores shall be made available for inspection to the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy through their designated members. (1) Within thirty (30) days after July 1, 1994, and annually thereafter, the State Board of Optometry with the advice and consultation of the designated members of the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy, shall develop rules and regulations requiring the satisfactory completion of the educational requirements, clinical training, and examinations required under the applicable provisions of the law, regarding those optometrists seeking to become certified to prescribe and use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. (2) Any optometrist using therapeutic pharmaceutical agents shall maintain accurate and current medical records concerning the procurement and use of such agents in the same form and manner as required for medical doctors, in addition to any records required to be kept or otherwise necessary to keep in the practice of optometry. All of these medical records shall be available for inspection at any time by representatives of the State Board of Optometry, and all such records shall be made available for inspection to the State Board of Medical Licensure and the State Board of Pharmacy through their designated members. Authority to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents Any optometrist certified to prescribe and use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents under the applicable provisions of the law is authorized to examine, diagnose, manage and treat visual defects, abnormal conditions and diseases of the human eye or eyelids, including: (a) Topical pharmaceutical agents; (b) Over-the-counter medications; (c) The administration and prescribing of all noninjectible medications listed in the current annual edition of the “Physicians’ Desk Reference for Ophthalmic Medicines” which are rational and appropriate for the examination, diagnosis, management or treatment of visual defects, abnormal conditions or diseases of the eye and/or eyelids for proper optometric practice; (d) The administration and prescribing of oral pharmaceutical agents to treat glaucoma; oral antibiotic medications; oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS) medications; over-the-counter allergy medications; and oral medications to treat viral infections, all of which must be used solely for the rational and appropriate examination, diagnosis, management or treatment of visual defects, abnormal conditions of the eye and/or eyelids for proper optometric practice; and (e) The administration of an auto injection or epi-pen to counteract anaphylactic reaction, followed by immediate referral of the patient to the nearest emergency medical facility. Standard of care Any optometrist who is certified to prescribe and use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents shall be held to the same standard of care in the prescription and use of such agents, and in diagnosis and treatment, as is common to a licensed medical doctor. Any pharmacist licensed under the laws of the State of Mississippi is authorized to fill and dispense to patients those therapeutic pharmaceutical agents specified in the applicable provisions of the law for any optometrist certified by the State Board of Optometry to use such agents.