I may be wrong but an optometrist isn’t a person with a medical degree. For that you need an ophthalmologist. Optician, optometrist, ophthalmologist. They do different things when it comes to eyecare.
You are so correct. Opticians makes glasses or contact lenses: optometrists get you an Rx for said glasses and/or contacts plus does regular testing for glaucoma and such. An opthalmologist is the doctor who can do everything except make the glasses.
It’s kind of like a psychologist and psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is the MD.