Which of the following is considered a mid-level practitioner?

A mid-level practitioner is typically defined as a healthcare professional who is licensed to perform certain medical services, including prescribing medications, but who does not have the full range of authority that a physician possesses.

In this context, the correct choice is the optometrist. Optometrists are trained to examine, diagnose, and treat conditions related to the eye, and they can prescribe medications, making them fall under the category of mid-level practitioners. Their scope of practice includes providing certain eye care services and prescribing ocular pharmaceuticals, distinguishing them from traditional physicians who have a broader scope of practice.

Physicians are not classified as mid-level practitioners because they have a higher level of training and privilege in the medical field, enabling them to manage more complex medical cases and conduct surgeries. Nurse practitioners, while they function independently to some extent and can diagnose and prescribe, are usually recognized as advanced practice registered nurses rather than mid-level practitioners in the same fashion as optometrists. Pharmacists, while they play a crucial role in medication management and patient education, do not fit into the category of mid-level practitioners who have an independent scope of practice involving direct patient diagnosis and treatment.

Thus, the classification of an optometrist as a mid-level practitioner is accurate due to their