OPHTHALMIC MEDICAL ASSISTANT

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

  • Designed for individuals looking to get into the eye care field.
  • Practice Management: office procedures, patient handling, office finances, professional issues
  • Ophthalmic Optics and Dispensing: Lenses, frame selection, adjustment/dispensing
  • Basic Procedures: pupillary responses, case history, visual acuity, color vision, stereo acuity
  • Special Procedures: tonometry, visual fields, Sphygmomanometry Purpose, surgery
  • Refractive Status of Eye and Binocularity: eye movements, refractive conditions
  • Basic Ocular Anatomy and Physiology: functions, disorders, pharmacology



PREREQUISITES

  • High school diploma or G.E.D
  • Proficiency in English (written and verbal)
  • Hand to eye coordination and finger agility
  • Adequate vision, normal or corrected



PROGRAM HOURS

  • 170 contact hours (135 hours didactic and 35 hours externship)



INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

  • Licensed and practicing ophthalmologist or optometrists
  • Certified ophthalmic medical assistant
  • Optometric assistant with 10 years of experience and is JCAHPO certified



CERTIFICATION

  • Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA) certification offered by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology
  • Students will need to complete other requirements before becoming certified
  • www.jcahpo.org/certification/

PROGRAMS

• PHARMACY TECHNICIAN
• PHARMACOLOGY
• PHLEBOTOMY
• MEDICAL CODING & BILLING
• AESTHETIC LASER TECHNICIAN
• VETERINARY ASSISTANT
• OPHTHALMIC MEDICAL ASSISTANT
• HEMODIALYSIS TECHNICIAN
• ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS
• DENTAL ASSISTANT
• CONTEMPORARY COMPOUNDING
• CARDIOGRAPHIC TECHNICIAN
• STERILE COMPOUNDING

WHAT DOES AN OPTHAMALIC MEDICAL ASSISTANT DO?

  • Help ophthalmologists provide eye care
  • Conduct diagnostic tests, measure and record vision and test eye muscle function
  • Show patients how to insert, remove and care for contact lenses
  • Under the direction of the physician, ophthalmic medical assistants may administer eye medications
  • Maintain optical and surgical instruments and may assist the ophthalmologist in surgery


EMPLOYERS

  • Eye clinics
  • Hospitals
  • Eye centers
  • Surgical centers
  • Universities
  • Colleges

    SALARY

  • $25,100-$44,300/year*
    * depends on hours, location and experience