Optometrist Suspects Patient Has Googled Symptoms After He Arrives Requesting 'Bilateral Accommodative Infacility'

Dr. Iris Diopter has reported a growing trend of patients arriving at appointments with self-diagnosed conditions sourced from optometric journals they found on the internet, the latest being a 34-year-old man who requested treatment for 'bilateral accommodative infacility with suspected convergence insufficiency and possible astigmatic drift.' The patient, Kevin Webmd, presented at the appointment with a three-page printout of symptoms, a diagram of the human eye annotated in four colors of highlighter, and what he described as 'a working hypothesis about my visual system that I'd like you to confirm.' 'He sat down and immediately began describing his condition using terminology from the Journal of the American Optometric Association,' Dr. Diopter said. 'He used the phrase bilateral accommodative infacility correctly, which was impressive. He then used the phrase astigmatic drift, which is not a real clinical term, which was less impressive.' Upon examination, Webmd was found to have mild myopia of -1.25 diopters in both eyes, a condition Dr. Diopter summarized as 'you need glasses for distance. That's it. You're a bit short-sighted.' Webmd appeared unsatisfied. 'I thought it would be more complex,' he said. 'I've been experiencing symptoms for months. I made a spreadsheet tracking my visual acuity at different distances and times of day. I bought a Snellen chart for my hallway. I've been self-testing weekly.' Dr. Diopter confirmed that self-testing with a hallway chart is 'not a substitute for a clinical examination' and that the spreadsheet, while 'thorough,' did not change the diagnosis. Webmd has accepted the prescription but reported feeling that his condition 'deserved a longer name.' He has asked Dr. Diopter to include 'mild bilateral myopia' on the prescription rather than the standard notation, 'so people understand it's medical.'