Statutory Framework: Scope of Optometric Practice and Definitions
Statutory framework: scope of practice and definitions
This domain tests whether you can draw the statutory boundary around optometry in Maryland: what 'practice optometry' includes, which titles and acts are reserved, and where optometry ends and medicine, surgery, or opticianry begins. The exam favors definitional precision over general clinical knowledge.
Core rules
Maryland Code, Health Occupations Article, Title 11, defines and regulates optometrists; the Board's regulations in COMAR 10.26 fill in practice details. 'Practice optometry' generally means examining the eye and visual system, diagnosing and treating visual defects and ocular disease within the statutory scope, prescribing corrective lenses and contact lenses, and using approved pharmaceutical agents. The license authorizes non-surgical care; it does not authorize surgery, laser procedures, or treatment outside the defined scope. 'Optometrist,' 'licensed optician,' and similar titles are protected. A person may not practice optometry without a Maryland license, and an optometrist may not delegate reserved acts to unlicensed personnel. The statute also recognizes referral and co-management duties when a condition exceeds optometric scope.
Worked example
A patient presents with a red, sticky eye. The optometrist takes a history, examines the anterior segment, diagnoses bacterial conjunctivitis, and prescribes a topical antibiotic. Reasoning: the examination, diagnosis, and topical prescription fall within Title 11's definition, so no separate medical license is needed. If the same patient instead had a suspected intraocular foreign body requiring surgical removal, the optometrist could stabilize and refer but could not perform the surgery.
Traps that cost marks
Do not assume that 'eye care' is one undifferentiated scope; opticianry, optometry, and ophthalmology have separate statutory boundaries. Do not treat a Maryland license as authorizing every procedure an ophthalmologist performs. Do not overlook that delegation does not enlarge scope: an unlicensed assistant cannot perform a reserved act merely because the optometrist is present.