Introduction: Physician Assistants (PA) provide pri­mary health care (PHC) in Liberia. In this study we at­tempted to explore their level of knowledge, attitude and practice towards primary eye care (PEC).

Subjects and methods: We conducted a telephonic survey of PAs based on a questionnaire developed in­digenously. The data was tabulated in an excel sheet and a descriptive analysis was done.

Results: Out of 184 PAs, 94 could be interviewed. Fifty one percent of them knew what refractive errors were, 78% knew what cataract was, 81% knew what was glaucoma, and 68% knew what was diabetic retinopa­thy. More than 1/5th did not know what the specific treatment for refractive errors, cataract and glaucoma was, and more than 90% did not know how diabetic retinopathy was treated. Only 15% of them performed torchlight eye examination, and none tested the visual acuity. A majority cited ‘lack of training’ and ‘lack of torchlight and/or battery’ as the reason for doing so.

Discussion: More than 50% of the PAs have an idea about common eye diseases but there are significant gaps in their practice. Very few of them do a torchlight eye examination regularly, none of them assess visual acuity and only a few (23%) feel confident about mak­ing a diagnosis of senile cataract.

Conclusion: PAs in Liberia have some basic knowl­edge about PEC. Focused educational programs would help bridge the gaps in their knowledge. Provi­sion of a basic eye examination kit would enable them to practice this knowledge effectively.