The ophthalmologist, due to his basic medical training and the ophthalmological specialty or subspecialty, is able to correlate systemic diseases and their impact on visual function, as well as to surgically solve diseases of the eye such as  cataracts, surgeries to stop wearing glasses or contact lenses, remove tumors from the eye or orbit, glaucoma surgeries among other pathologies that affect the eyes.

The optometrist, because he does not have a medical training, is not in the capacity to perform eye surgeries.