Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

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

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

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

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

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.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
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.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
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.
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.
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.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
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.
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.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
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.
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.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.

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

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Ophthalmic Medical Technicians jobs Education and Training for Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES