Eyecare Specialist

Eyecare Specialists and Opticians who work as part of a group optometry or medical practice work with optometrists and ophthalmologists to provide eye-related medical care to patients. Other common work environments include stores that sell eyeglasses, contact lenses, visual aids, and other optical goods. These stores may be stand-alone businesses or parts of larger retail establishments, such as department stores. Graduates of the Eyecare Specialist program at North-West College will be eligible to accept entry-level positions as a technician work as a technical assistant under a doctor’s supervision and are qualified to take the American Association of Opticianry examination. There are also jobs in optical laboratories, optical merchandising firms, fashion boutiques and other lens-related businesses.

Graduates of the program routinely find jobs working in:

Successful graduates of the Eyecare Specialist program are qualified to take the American Association of Opticianry examination and will be able to function as a technical assistant under a doctor’s supervision, measuring the curvature (or power) of letters of a specific size at a specific distance, recording pressure or tension within the eye, assisting in detection, determining the power of lenses in old and new prescriptions, and frame measurements. The program is divided into eight class course modules, including a 200-hour clinical externship where students will apply the skills they learn in the classroom in an actual health care practice setting.

Orientation and success building course for Career Students. Review of basic math, language, vocabulary, and writing skills. Introduction to core career classes, availability of community resources, outlining, summarizing, managing credit, and other life skills

Anatomy of the Eye, Care and Use of the Lensometer, Optical Terminology and Vocabulary, Transposition Practice, PD Rules and Measurements, Frame Selection and Measurement, Frame Adjustments, Use of Salt Pan and Adjustment Instruments, Ordering Prescriptions from the Lab, Bifocal Measurements and Identification, Lens Tinting and Heat Treating, Patient Education

Optometric Services, Caring for the Office, Patient Relationships, Introduction to the Phoropter, Keratometer and Retinoscope, Taking Patient Vital Signs (Blood Pressure, etc.), Taking Patient Case Histories, Medical Emergencies, Pharmaceutical Prescriptions, Cycloplegias, Tangent Screen, Use of the Tonometer for Glaucoma Testing, Assisting with Diagnostic Testing, Employee Job Description including: Front Office Attire, Ethics, and Personal Hygiene

Optics of Contact Lenses, History of Contact Lenses, Types of Lenses, Fitting and Variables in Contact Lenses, Patient Contact Lens

Greeting Patients and Visitors, Telephone Techniques, Making Appointments, Filing, Letter Writing, Ordering Supplies, Insurance Terminology, Abbreviations, and Symbols, Insurance Coding Exercises, Processing Insurance Claims, Medical and Legal Terminology, Ethics and

Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye and terminology as it relates to the Eyecare and optometric field; Introduction to Computers, Word, Excel, Medi-Soft, Processing Electronic Insurance Claims, & Creating Professional Quality Résumés

Internship Workshop, Career Readiness Workshops, New Student Orientation, and CPR

Internship to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom in an

The Eyecare Specialist program at North-West College is a professional health care training course designed to provide the fundamental knowledge and education needed to work as a technical assistant under a doctor’s supervision.