Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code RIS
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions. May administer eye exams, administer eye medications, and instruct the patient in care and use of corrective lenses.
Also called: Certified Ophthalmic Surgical Assistant, Certified Ophthalmic Technician (COT), Ophthalmic Assistant, Ophthalmic Tech (Ophthalmic Technician), Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technician (Certified Ophthalmic Medical Tech), Certified Ophthalmic Technician-Surgical Assistant (COT-SA), Health Technician (Health Tech), Ophthalmic Diagnostic Sonographer.
O*NET 29-2057.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $45,570
- Middle half earn $38,170 to $51,390. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 59% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Take and document patients' medical histories.
- Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.
- Operate ophthalmic equipment, such as autorefractors, phoropters, tomographs, or retinoscopes.
- Take anatomical or functional ocular measurements of the eye or surrounding tissue, such as axial length measurements.
- Measure visual acuity, including near, distance, pinhole, or dynamic visual acuity, using appropriate tests.
- Measure and record lens power, using lensometers.
- Administer topical ophthalmic or oral medications.
- Conduct visual field tests to measure field of vision.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.6 / 5
- Speaking3.3 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
- Writing3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
- Active Learning3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry4.2 / 5
- English Language4.0 / 5
- Mathematics3.3 / 5
- Administrative2.9 / 5
- Education and Training2.8 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic72
- Investigative63
- Artistic0
- Social61
- Enterprising13
- Conventional57
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- eyewear and optical equipment shop manager · DE Leiter eines Optikergeschäftes/Leiterin eines Optikergeschäftes · FR gérant de magasin d'optique et lunetterie/gérante de magasin d'optique et lunetterie
- optometrist · DE Optometrist/Optometristin · FR optométriste
- orthoptist · DE Orthoptist/Orthoptistin · FR orthoptiste
- optical instrument production supervisor · DE Produktionsleiter optische Instrumente/Produktionsleiterin optische Instrumente · FR superviseur en production d’instruments optiques/superviseuse en production d’instruments optiques
- optician · DE Augenoptiker/Augenoptikerin · FR opticien/opticienne
- optical technician · DE Augenoptiktechniker/Augenoptiktechnikerin · FR technicien en optique/technicienne en optique
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Optometrists (2252)18,900 employed
- Dispensing opticians (3211)9,200 employed
- Precision instrument makers and repairers (5224)15,800 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.08. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-2057).
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