Ophthalmic Assistant

As an Ophthalmic Assistant, your job is to help the Doctor in running their clinic and handling patients. Specifically, you work for an Ophthalmologist or Eye Doctor, who diagnoses and fixes vision problems.

In this Ophthalmic Assistant job, you have a few different areas of responsibility. On the administrative side, you answer phones, fill out paperwork, and make appointments. When you’re not doing this, you help with patients by explaining tests and medications, assisting with procedures, and giving vision tests. The tests you give as an Ophthalmic Assistant might be to check if they have perfect vision or if they’re color blind. You also prepare patients for the Doctor by getting their medical history, and checking to see if they have any allergies or potential problems.

After an exam, you schedule a follow-up appointment if necessary, and answer any remaining questions. If a patient gets new glasses or contacts, you might be the one to explain basic things, like how to clean or wear them.

For the most part, this job has pretty basic, unchanging responsibilities, and doesn’t require much schooling. You can use this job as a stepping stone into the world of ophthalmology. It’ll give you good on-the-job experience as you’re trying to work your way into a position with higher pay and more responsibilities. As an Ophthalmic Assistant, you can work anywhere Ophthalmologists are found (i.e., all over). This includes hospitals, clinics, universities, or military bases.