Healthcare
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.
Median salary (BLS)
$45,570
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$36k – $62k
Job outlook
+20% (much faster than average)
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $93,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
Education
Typical entry: Associate degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
Entry / Junior
$35,700
~2 yrs to advance
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
Established
$45,570
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
Senior
$53,755
Key skills
A typical day
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Healthcare
Explore all- Johns Hopkins University7% admit · $93,000 grad pay
- Harvard University4% admit · $119,000 grad pay
- University of Michigan18% admit · $87,000 grad pay
- Duke University6% admit · $105,000 grad pay
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill19% admit · $73,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.