Children from well-baby clinics and school examination clinics are currently referred to a community ophthalmic practitioner. These are physicians trained in ophthalmology who, although not in a position to perform surgical treatment, can carry out a total medical examination of the eye, identify systemic disease and are experienced in how to deal with any side-effects that result from the administration of drugs. This is far more than simply an eye examination and the prescription of spectacles which, in any event, may not be the problem.