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Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions. May administer eye exams, administer eye medications, and instruct the patient in care and use of corrective lenses.

Related: Cardiovascular Technologists & Technicians Medical Assistants Neurodiagnostic Technologists Ophthalmic Medical Technologists Surgical Assistants

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Take and document patients' medical histories.
Assist patients to select eyewear.
Instruct patients in the care and use of contact lenses.
Adjust or make minor repairs to spectacles or eyeglasses.
Call patients to inquire about their post-operative status or recovery.
Assist patients to insert or remove contact lenses.
Measure and record lens power, using lensometers.
Measure and record lens power, using lensometers.
Measure corneal curvature with keratometers or ophthalmometers to aid in the diagnosis of conditions, such as astigmatism.
Conduct ocular motility tests to measure function of eye muscles.
Take and document patients' medical histories.
Operate ophthalmic equipment, such as autorefractors, phoropters, tomographs, or retinoscopes.
Take anatomical or functional ocular measurements of the eye or surrounding tissue, such as axial length measurements.
Measure visual acuity, including near, distance, pinhole, or dynamic visual acuity, using appropriate tests.
Administer topical ophthalmic or oral medications.
Clean or sterilize ophthalmic or surgical instruments.
Clean or sterilize ophthalmic or surgical instruments.
Conduct binocular disparity tests to assess depth perception.
Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.
Conduct visual field tests to measure field of vision.
Assess refractive conditions of eyes, using retinoscopes.
Assist physicians in performing ophthalmic procedures, including surgery.
Maintain ophthalmic instruments or equipment.
Assess refractive conditions of eyes, using retinoscopes.

Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.

Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

48960/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

23.54/hr

Currently Employed

1,490

Yearly Projected Openings

200

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Self Control
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Concern for Others
Cooperation

Binocular vision test sets
Chart projectors
Corneal topographers
Depth perception apparatus
Exophthalmometers
Eye charts or vision cards
Eye occluders
Interferometers
Keratometers
Laser fax machine
Lid plates for ophthalmic surgery
Medical computed tomography CT or CAT scanners or tubes
Medical syringes with needle
Mercury blood pressure units
Ophthalmic lensometers
Ophthalmic perimeters
Ophthalmic prisms
Ophthalmic retinoscopes
Ophthalmic slit lamps
Ophthalmic spectrophotometers
Ophthalmic tonometers
Ophthalmic transilluminators
Ophthalmic visual function analyzers
Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets
Opticians tools
Personal computers
Phoropter units
Photo attachments for microscopes
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
Tangent screen test objects kits
Thickness measuring devices
Ultrasonic examination equipment
Vision testing stereoscopes

Electronic mail software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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