Brinton Vision, a LASIK surgeon in St Louis, Missouri, has published a patient education article on how prospective vision correction patients can independently verify a surgeon's subspecialty credentials. The article, titled "Dr. Brinton is a World College of Refractive Surgery Fellow In Missouri: Why that Matters," examines the distinction between board certification in ophthalmology and the subspecialty credentials issued by private professional organizations. The practice performs LASIK, SMILE, PRK, EVO ICL, and Custom Lens Replacement (CLR) for patients in St. Louis, St. Charles, Clayton, and Chesterfield.

The World College of Refractive Surgery and Visual Sciences is an international, professional organization that awards a Fellowship credential to surgeons who complete its assessment process. The organization is not a medical licensing authority, and its Fellowship neither replaces nor supersedes certification by the American Board of Ophthalmology, which remains the recognized certifying board for the specialty in the United States. Dr. Jason P. Brinton, MD, holds both. The article's position is that the two credentials answer different questions. Board certification establishes competence across eye care as a whole, while the Fellowship assessment is confined to refractive surgery and reviews documented surgical volume across corneal and lens based procedures, independent expert evaluation of a surgeon's outcomes and methodology, oral examination before a panel, refractive-specific continuing education, and adherence to the organization's ethical standards.

The statistics cited in the article come from the organization's published directory and membership data. As of July 2026, that directory lists Dr. Brinton as one of three Fellows practicing in Missouri, and the organization reports that fewer than 3.33% of surgeons performing laser vision correction nationally hold the credential. The directory is publicly searchable on the organization's website, which allows any individual listing to be confirmed independently. For context on the size of the field, the American Academy of Ophthalmology estimates approximately 18,000 ophthalmologists in practice in the United States, a figure that includes both those who perform refractive surgery and those who do not.

Patients in St. Louis and the surrounding communities have access to cornea based procedures, including LASIK, SMILE, and PRK, and to lens based procedures, including EVO ICL and Custom Lens Replacement. According to the practice, that range is what allows a procedure to be matched to an individual patient's corneal thickness, prescription, and prior surgical history rather than to the single option a practice offers. Brinton Vision reports that some patients who have been told elsewhere that they are not candidates for LASIK are subsequently evaluated for lens based alternatives, though the practice does not publish an outcome rate for those evaluations. Procedure selection follows the Brinton Vision Ocular Analysis, a diagnostic evaluation completed before any recommendation is made.

"Patients researching vision correction are asked to compare claims that are difficult to check," said Dr. Jason P. Brinton, MD, board-certified ophthalmologist and founder of Brinton Vision. "A credential awarded only after independent surgeons review documented surgical volume, outcomes, and methodology, and that appears in a directory anyone can search, gives patients something they can confirm on their own rather than take on trust."

Dr. Brinton earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed fellowship training in cornea and refractive surgery at Durrie Vision under Dr. Dan Durrie. He is a founding member of the Refractive Surgery Alliance, has served as an investigator on multiple United States Food and Drug Administration clinical trials, instructs the Laser Refractive Surgery course at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and has authored more than 80 scientific publications, abstracts, book chapters, and presentations. He was named to the Castle Connolly Top Doctors list, a designation Castle Connolly bases on peer nomination followed by review from its physician-led research team.

Brinton Vision is located at 555 N. New Ballas Road, Suite 310, St. Louis, MO 63141. Driving directions to the office are available through Google Maps. The practice reports that its patients have included residents of 42 states and 16 countries, a figure drawn from its own records rather than an independent audit. Vision correction typically involves a diagnostic evaluation, the procedure, and a series of follow-up visits with the operating surgeon, which the practice cites as the reason regional access to refractive surgery matters to patients weighing where to have the procedure performed.

Dr. Brinton is a third-generation ophthalmologist whose grandfather, Sherman S. Brinton, MD, practiced ophthalmology in St. Louis after serving as a physician in the European Theater of World War II. Brinton Vision provides LASIK and refractive surgery in St. Louis, Missouri, under his direction. Additional information about the practice and its procedures is available at brintonvision.com and through the practice's Google Business Profile. Brinton Vision will continue publishing patient education material on how vision correction candidates evaluate procedures, technology, and surgeon qualifications.

###

For more information about Brinton Vision, contact the company here:

Brinton Vision
Jason Brinton
314-375-2020
info@brintonvision.com
Brinton Vision
555 N New Ballas Rd Ste 310
St. Louis, MO 63141