Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist

Types of Degrees Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many ophthalmic technician/technologist graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	87
Basic Certificate	66
Undergraduate Certificate	21
Bachelor’s Degree	2

What Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to ophthalmic technician/technologist were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Majors

When studying ophthalmic technician/technologist, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Majors

Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Can You Do With a Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with ophthalmic technician/technologist:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians	19.6%	$36,530

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist?

Roughly 50% of the graduates are women, and 50% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of ophthalmic technician/technologist majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	1
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist

Some degrees associated with ophthalmic technician/technologist may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for ophthalmic technician/technologist careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	43.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	30.4%
Some College Courses	8.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	13.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.4%

Online Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	12	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	14	1
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to ophthalmic technician/technologist.

Major	Number of Grads
Opticianry/Ophthalmic Dispensing Optician	397
Optometric Technician/Assistant	155
Other Ophthalmic and Optometric Support Services and Allied Professions	30
Orthoptics/Orthoptist	2

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.