Ophthalmic Technician Salary and Job Description

Find Out An Ophthalmic Technician Salary. Also, this article describes the job of an ophthalmic technician, the skills required, and how much they make.

Undoubtedly, we know how essential the eyes are to the body. Therefore, we must take care of them and visit a specialist when we have issues.

An ophthalmologist is a specialist who cares for the eyes with the assistance of an ophthalmic technician.

However, we are not going to talk about the ophthalmologist, but our interest is in ophthalmic technicians.

We will discuss how to build a career as an ophthalmic technician looking at the duties, compensation packages, skills, and certifications needed to become one.

It is an exciting career, yet demanding every bit of attention and dedication one has to muster.

Ophthalmic Technician

An Ophthalmic Technician performs optical exams, diagnoses problems, and prescribes solutions with the assistance of an ophthalmologist.

Furthermore, an ophthalmic technician assesses the patient before sending them to the ophthalmologist in charge. They do much of the heavy lifting and make the work of an ophthalmologist easier.

Generally, Ophthalmic technicians are not “assistants” to ophthalmologists, though. because they work with and not for them. Consequently, they can work independently of ophthalmologists.

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What Do Ophthalmic Technicians Do?

As professionals in a very delicate field such as eye care, Ophthalmic technicians perform many functions. These eye-catching functions include:

Assist ophthalmologists in the procedure and maintenance of eye surgery equipment
Oversee patients’ preliminary eye examinations and administer proper measures and medications to curb eye defects and diseases.
Keep records of patients’ check-up logs, medical history, and therapy plans.
Perform administrative functions such as scheduling patients for a check-up and follow-up programs for patients-both, inpatients, and outpatients alike
Enlighten patients on eye care – what to do and what not to do.
Answer patients’ questions on obscurities about their eyes.
Determine and issue appropriate corrective lenses for different degrees of eye problems

Where Do Ophthalmic Technicians Work?

Ophthalmic technicians work anywhere that involves eye care. In addition to medical hospitals and eye care centers, they work in outpatient centers, military camps, and ophthalmologist offices for mostly veterans with ocular impairments. Also, they can work on their own with the correct licenses.

Job Outlook

As the years go by, more and more people have begun to pay attention to the state and health of their eyes.

Thus, more medical centers are being established to render services to the concerned would-be patients. Hence, there is a demand for ophthalmic technicians, and the percentage is expected to increase over the coming years.

How Much Do Ophthalmic Technicians Make?

The amount which ophthalmic technicians earn as salary varies with geographical location, experience on the job, certification acquired, and the institution employed.

A total of 1,896 anonymous salaries for ophthalmic technicians who worked over the past year were investigated based on a total of 1,896 anonymous salaries. The results show that the average rate for ophthalmic technicians is $19.33 per hour.

As it is an average figure, with the lowest salary entry being $8.17 to $38.56 per hour, it is not an accurate evaluation of the salary earned by ophthalmic technicians in the United States.

Skills Required of an Ophthalmic Technician

An ophthalmic technician performs a myriad of jobs. As a result, they must possess a set of skills in their arsenal. These skills are classified into clinical and interpersonal skills.

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Clinical Skills

The following are examples of clinical skills:

Pupillary assessment to detect tears and abrasions hinders the optical incidence of rays on the retina.
Ability to keep records and chart files of patients for safekeeping. Lensometry: involves the verification of the prescription for a pair of eyeglasses.
Keratometry: involves the measurement of the cornea’s curvature
Ocular motility assessment: consists of using the eyes’ rapid movement to determine the causes of eye defects.
Refractometry: This is determining the strength of lenses to correct ocular impairment.
Tonometry is the measurement of the pressure inside the eyes and is used to detect glaucoma.
Visual assessment entails judging the strength of a person’s vision using a series of visual aids and comparing the resulting outcome with a standard, expected outcome.
Ability to perform instrument sterilization/maintenance

Interpersonal Skills

The interpersonal skills required of an ophthalmic technician are:

Empathy: An ophthalmic technician must be kind with words and offer moral support to the patients
Emotional intelligence: Ability to discern when a patient is becoming uncomfortable or in distress
Communication skills: Having the ability to communicate clear ideas and instructions to the patients
Attention to detail: One must keep an eye on the tiniest clues.
Multitasking: An excellent ophthalmic technician must be able to do more than one activity at once
Active listening: Listen actively and get tits and bits of the patient’s conversation.
Problem-solving Skills: It is essential to have a keen interest in problem-solving skills.
Organization skills: One must be able to put things in order. This ensures that things go smoothly.
Collaborative attitude: It is paramount for an ophthalmic technician to foster a good working relationship with the ophthalmologist.
Ability to educate others

Certification

In every career, especially in the health sector, one must have the licenses and certifications to practice.

Nobody would want to put the safety of their body in the hands of uncertified personnel. There is always a need for improvement, no matter the profession.

The following are the various certifications that are up for grabs for allied ophthalmic technicians.

Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA)- Tier 1
Certified Ophthalmic Technician(COT)-Tier 2
Tier 3 Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technician(COMT)

All these levels are to be undergone one at a time. After putting the work in at tier 1 for the assigned amount of time per day for the stipulated time range, the next level is open for occupation.

Furthermore, it is mandatory to recertify every three years for all of these tiers on your current tier. In other words, you need to recertify after 3 years at tier 1 or 3 years at tier 2 without moving on to the next tier.

Completing all these tiers will improve your reliability ratings from your patients and will most definitely affect your salary rates.

Final Notes on Ophthalmic Technician Salary and Job Description

Ophthalmic technicians are professionals in healthcare concerning the eyes. The career is beautiful, and there is plenty of demand for them.

We have explored how to build a career as an ophthalmic technician spelling out the needed duties and skillsets. Also, we highlighted the required certifications.

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