There is already an established, competency-based process by which individuals gain the education and training necessary to perform laser eye surgery safety on the public. It is by this process of proctored live eye surgery, supervised by expert surgeons, that the public can be assured that an individual is safe to perform surgery. This is routinely undertaken by ophthalmologists completing their surgical  residency after medical school education. This proctored experience on live patients supervised by surgeons is not present in optometric training, but is taught to every ophthalmologist by the time their residency is complete, ensuring to the public that a certain standard has been met.  This rigorous process serves as a safeguard to ensure public safety. Changing this standard of care to allow for a didactic course, or for practice solely on a model eye, as a criterion to perform laser eye surgery is simply not sufficient to guarantee safety. Optometrists play an important role in eye care delivery, but surgery on the eye should be performed by ophthalmologists.