As a Family Medicine physician who reviews medical records for military accessions, reviewing over 300 optometry and ophthalmology visits each month, I will say there is a significant delta in the # of patients an optometrist refers to ophthalmology for “retina tears needing laser" diagnosed by optometry, and the # of patients who end up actually having a retinal tear or another finding that warrants laser.  Given this discrepancy, not only does there need to be a high level of standardized training to performing laser treatments, there should be much higher emphasis to ensure competency on accurately identifying findings that NEED laser treatment.  In short, for an optometrist to perform laser, they should undergo proper academic, didactic, and clinical training to match the fund of knowledge as the ophthalmologists who diagnose and treat ocular pathology warranting laser.  A disparity in this competence is deceptive to patients.