Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

Also Called:

Certified Ophthalmic Surgical Assistant,

Certified Ophthalmic Technician (COT),

Ophthalmic Assistant,

Ophthalmic Tech (Ophthalmic Technician)

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.

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Health Science

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Take and document patients' medical histories.
  • Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.
  • Operate ophthalmic equipment, such as autorefractors, phoropters, tomographs, or retinoscopes.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

Cautiousness

Attention to Detail

Dependability

Stress Tolerance

Empathy

Self-Control

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Realistic

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Investigative

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Social

Knowledge

People who want to pursue this career have knowledge in these areas.

Business

  • Customer service

Health

  • Medicine and dentistry

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Math and Science

  • Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Communicate by speaking

  • Listen and understand what people say

Hand and Finger Use

  • Keep your arm or hand steady

  • Put together small parts with your fingers

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

  • Talking to others

Social

  • Looking for ways to help people

  • Understanding people's reactions

Work Values

Work values describe how your core beliefs align with those commonly needed for this career.

Relationships

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Support

Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research
  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move
  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Ophthalmic Medical Technicians jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop