Are you interested in the field of Medical Assisting? Do you want to become a medical assistant but not sure you want to give shots and draw blood? Have you considered the exciting and rewarding field of Optometric Assisting?
There is more than one option for individuals interested in a career as a medical assistant. Optometric Assistants work with Optometrists (Eye Doctors) in doctor’s offices, vision care clinics, and other eye care facilities. As an Optometric Assistant, you will have the opportunity to support the Optometrist and assist the patients themselves.
Duties of Optometric Assistants are both administrative and technical, and include:
- Greeting customers
- Answering phones and scheduling appointments
- Handling insurance forms
- Documenting patient histories
- Record keeping
- Accepting payments
- Managing inventory and purchasing office materials
- Conducting vision tests
- Measuring visual acuity
- Testing depth perception and color blindness
- Screening for glaucoma
- Measuring the distance between a patient’s pupils
- Cleaning and setting up equipment
- Preparing examination rooms
- Explaining the examination procedure to patients
- Assisting the Optometrist in eye examinations
- Instructing patients on contact lens care
- Helping patients choose frames and lenses
- Fitting patients with eyewear, frame repair and adjusting
Because of the wide range of job duties, Optometric Assistants must possess strong organizational and communication skills. Since the job requires a good amount of precision, a strong attention to detail is vital. The ability to learn on the job is also important, as Optometric Assistants learn from working with the Optometrist and more experienced peers. Perhaps most important, strong interpersonal and customer service skills are critical, because Optometric Assistants work closely with patients on a daily basis.
A career as an Optometric Assistant is a promising one! Optometric Assistants are a specialized kind of medical assistant, and in 2016, 634,400 people were employed in the U.S. as medical assistants. What’s more, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a strong 23% growth in the industry through 2024. So becoming an Optometric Assistant is an excellent step towards solid employment!
So where do you begin? At Lamson Institute you can receive all the training you need to become an Optometric Assistant. Plus the program at Lamson includes an externship, so you can gain real world experience and on the job training. As a graduate from Lamson’s Optical/Optometric Assistant program you will be qualified for an entry level job as an Optical Assistant, Optometric Assistant, Optical Laboratory Assistant, or Optical Sales Representative. So contact an admission representative and get started today!