Glaucoma Consultations with
Dr. Schertzer
How to be referred to Dr. Schertzer
What to bring with you for your visit
-> In office tests prior to seeing Dr. Schertzer
Consultation day with Dr. Schertzer
How long will all this take?
What is the follow-up plan?
In office tests prior to seeing Dr. Schertzer
A full assessment includes a medical history, physical examination of your eyes, and ancillary testing. We are proud to be able to offer all of these at one place at the West Coast Glaucoma Centre. If you have not had a visual field test or HRT nerve head scan recently, these will be performed prior to your consultation. These tests are fully covered by your BC Medical Services Plan but are not fully covered when performed on the same day. Therefore, you will have to come on two different days in order to undergo your ancillary tests and see Dr. Schertzer.
As the visual field test takes longer than the HRT nerve scan, it is more likely to take place on a date prior to the consultation. An ophthalmic technician, Teresa or Linda, will call you from the waiting room to either the diagnostic testing room or to one of their examining rooms.
For an accurate test, it is very important that we have your most recent glasses prescription. We then use this value to calculate the strength of a lens that will be placed in front of each eye during the test. You will be instructed to place your chin on the chin rest and place your forehead against the forehead rest. One eye will be covered with what looks like a pirate's patch and a lens will be positioned in front of the eye being tested. You will have a "clicker" in one hand and will be asked to press the button whenever you see a small light appear anywhere within the testing bowl while you keep looking straight ahead. The visual field test will take under 20 minutes.
You will return on a future date for the HRT nerve head scan and to see Dr. Robert Schertzer in consultation. The HRT scan will be performed first. The ophthalmic technician, Teresa or Linda, will call you from the waiting room to the diagnostic testing room after they enter some preliminary information into the scanner. The nerve scan is painless and takes less than five minutes. You will be asked to put your chin on the chin rest and your forehead again the forehead rest. You will then be asked to look straight ahead at a green target with one eye while a red laser light flickers as it does a 3-D scan of your other eye. The process is then repeated for your other eye. If you have limited vision in one or both of your eyes, then sometimes a little extra time and patience is needed to get the best possible scan.
The technicians' role When it comes to these ancillary tests, our technicians role is to obtain the most accurate results possible. They do not interpret the results. Dr. Schertzer will analyze the tests and review the results when he sees you.