SC Optometric Physicians Association

Rural South Carolina encompasses 29 counties. That means roughly 63% of the state's counties were rural under the Census-based definition used by SC AHEC in its workforce data.​

Optometrists are primary eye-care physicians. Optometric Physicians examine, diagnose, treat and manage diseases, injuries and disorders of the eye and visual system. They can identify systemic conditions affecting the eye.

In SC, there is approximately 1 optometrist for every 9,225 South Carolinians.

Optometry requires four years of doctoral education after undergraduate education. That specialized training focuses specifically on the structure, function and disorders of the eye. 

Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness. The most common form can progress for years without noticeable symptoms, making routine eye examinations critical for detection. 

At least 40% of South Carolina's population lives in a rural county under common rurality definitions used in state healthcare workforce planning. 

More than 1.18 million South Carolina adults—about 1 in 3—live with a disability. Vision disability is one of the disability categories tracked by the South Carolina Department of Public Health.