Ophthalmic Assistant Job Description

The Average Salary of Certified Ophthalmic Assistants

The job duties of an eye doctor include collecting patient information and updating medical records. Office work is a part of the job, but it also has more technical aspects. An eye doctor may need to take patients' eye measurements and administer some drugs.

Many of the tasks assigned to an eye doctor are supportive and help them with a number of things. There are more than one route to becoming a certified ophthalmic assistant. The first path is to get on-the-job training in which a vision care center will hire new assistants and train them.

Some vision care centers and ophthalmologists don't want to spend time introducing new employees to all the essentials. Ophthalm assistants with some kind of formal training are what most vision care centers look to hire. If you receive on-the-job training, you will be able to use that to take a national certification.

The average salary for medical assistants is reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but they don't give any details about the salary of ophthalmic assistants. The average salary for medical assistants is $32,850 annually, with the top percentage of professionals earning over $50,000. An average salary for an eye doctor is more than the average for a medical assistant.

The average salary of a certified ophthalmic assistant is $36,000 annually, while non-certified assistants make closer to $33,000 per year. Some positions exceed the estimated average, which is different according to location. A high school diploma or GED equivalency is required to become a certified eye doctor.

Ophthalmic Medical Assistants

Medical assistants are trained to work with patients and doctors. They go through training programs to be prepared for the many duties that medical assistants perform. A medical assistant can be licensed after completing an accredited MA training program.

MA perform duties that include patient assessment, testing, treatment administration, assisting physicians and clerical duties. A medical assistant can specialize in a specific field. Diagnostic tests involving the eyes and vision are performed by MAs working in an ossuary or ophthalmology practice.

They record each patient's vision. They perform eye tests on patients. Ophthalmic MA performs tests to check for eye pressure, peripheral vision and colorblindness.

An eye doctor will document their findings after each test. Ophthalmic MA help patients during their visit to the eye doctor. They explain how the tests are done.

They help patients get to the test rooms. Clerical duties associated with medical assistants include pulling and filing charts. They are usually responsible for answering phone lines and calling patients to let them know about their upcoming appointments.

Ophthalmic medical assistants are trained to provide vision care. They don't write prescriptions, but they do a lot of the work to make sure the prescription is right. They test vision and eye muscles.

They measure the distance between the eyes. They ask patients questions about their medical history, and they may also do telephone triage. Ophthalmic medical assistants can work in private practices or large medical facilities.

An eye doctor who works for a small practice has other duties as well. They should be able to teach patients how to fill out forms. Other duties include greeting patients, scheduling appointments, and attaching medical codes to procedures.

Customer service skills can be an asset. Medical assistants can progress to the level of an eye technician or technologist with more training. Higher level assisting personnel may be able to teach patients how to handle contact lens.

Ophthalm medical assistants can help with eye surgery. There are different levels of voluntary certification available through JCAHPO. Specialty certification is also available.