Maine Optometry Practice Act and Board Rules
The two-layer framework
Maine optometry law has two layers: the Optometry Practice Act in 32 M.R.S. ch. 34 and the Board of Optometry rules in 02-321 C.M.R. The statute creates the Board, defines the practice of optometry, requires a license, and authorizes discipline. The rules supply the operational detail-application forms, examination and renewal procedures, continuing education, delegation, and clinic standards. Both bind licensees. A common exam mistake is treating the rules as mere guidance; in Maine, properly adopted Board rules have the force of law.
License required; exemptions are narrow
A person may not practice optometry without a Maine license. The definition of practice is broad: examining the eyes, diagnosing and treating ocular conditions, prescribing corrective lenses, and using diagnostic or therapeutic agents. Statutory exemptions-such as physicians practicing medicine or students in an approved supervised program-are read narrowly. Business ownership does not create clinical authority: an optometrist cannot rent a license to a corporation or let unlicensed staff perform the licensed judgment.
Delegation and supervision
Optometric assistants may perform tasks allowed by Board rule under the required level of supervision, but delegation cannot transfer diagnosis, treatment decisions, or prescribing. The licensee remains responsible for the assistant's acts within the practice.
Worked example. An unlicensed technician performs non-contact tonometry and tells a patient, “Your pressure is high; you have glaucoma.” Measurement may be delegable if the Board rule and supervision requirements are met. Interpreting the result and telling the patient she has glaucoma are licensed acts. The optometrist must review the data, make the diagnosis, and document the supervision.
Traps that cost marks: confusing statutory exemptions with office policy; assuming “supervision” means the optometrist may be absent; and missing that corporate structure does not expand scope.