The Ophthalmic Assistant course provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to perform patient care procedures in the ophthalmic office. Ophthalmic assistants work directly with patients, greeting them and documenting their medical histories as well as assisting in administering diagnostic tests, measuring and recording vision, testing eye muscle function, providing eye-related patient education, and assisting the ophthalmologist as requested. They also assist in maintaining optical instruments, supporting patients before and after cataract surgery, and assisting with the administrative tasks of the office, such as scheduling appointments, answering telephones, and maintaining records.

Program Objectives

After completing this program, learners will be able to:

• Medical Terminology, Anatomy and physiology, Pharmacology & Microbiology of the eye
• Scheduling appointments
• Obtaining consents and insurance information
• Maintaining records
• Preliminary examinations
• Understanding ophthalmic equipment
• Facts about glasses and contact lenses
• Visual fields, ocular injuries and common eye/retinal disorders
• Asepsis technique and minor office surgery
• Glaucoma
• Topical; prescriptions written for the eye
• Visual acuity; near and distance
• Laser in ophthalmology
• Computerized corneal tonometry & refractive surgery
• Maintaining surgical and other supplies
• Taking patients' medical histories and ethics
• Teaching patients about procedures
• Review of maintaining, sterilizing, and setting up instruments for surgery
• Assisting with surgery and patient monitoring
• Applying medications and eye dressings

Job and Externship Placement Services

Regardless if you elect to pursue national certification or not, if you enroll and successfully complete this program, assuming you pass a background check and drug screen, you will have guaranteed access to our Ready to Work (RTW) Job and Externship Placement services. All students who successfully complete this program (and pass a background check and drug screen) will have access to the RTW Externship or Job placement services at no additional cost.

Please note that if you choose Ready to Work (RTW) Externship Placement, you must be available to attend your RTW Externship on a full-time or part-time basis, Monday through Friday, between 7am - 5pm (minimum of 4 hours per day) for 2, 3, 4 or 5 days per week. Evening and weekend externships are not available, with the exception of Pharmacy Technician, which may have evening and weekend opportunities. Externships must be completed in person at the employer facility during the scheduled hours. With the exception of Medical Billing & Coding (MBC) students, remote externships are not available. Additionally, remote RTW Job Placements are very limited. Students have 6 months from course completion to request RTW placement services. After 6 months, a refresher course is required to be eligible for RTW placement services.