Education needed to be an optical technician?

Question

I went to see an ophthamologist today. I was called in from the waiting area and this woman took me into a room and I sat down. She ended up asking me everything about my symptoms and gave me an eye check to see if I was seeing 20/20. She then put some drops in my eyes and used this handheld machine to check for pressure in my eyes. come to find out these drops were to numb my eyes while this machine touched my corneas checking for pressure (to see if they were too soft or too hard). She then put drops in to dialate them. She then used a machine for topography. I then asked her how long she went to school for this. She said she started out being a receptionist and was taken in the back to learn how to do things. A year or two later she said she got certified taking tests. So basically shes allowed to put various drops into people's eyes and using a handheld machine to touch corneas and hasn't even been to school for this? Is this normal in the optical world?

Answer 1

Actually it is common practice. The Optical world is different from state to state, but in most places there are no certification laws for the people working under the doctor. Most of the training is done on the job and also by classes that we can take from certain companies or from correspondence. There is very little offered at colleges as far as Opthalmic assisting or Opticianry. As I said, in some states there are certification requirements and schooling requirements and that makes the need for classes and schools more lucrative in that community. In places where there are no certifications required, you are taught what to do by the doctor and you operate under his licsense and supervision. Once you are adept at it you take the certification exams. They are hard and very expensive, so in a State that has no certification requirements, there are a lot of people that do learn on the job. Another thing is that the Doctors hire a lot of people that are not certified as they are cheaper for hire than a certified one. Certified people cost more money because they have experience and have also paid to take exams and sometimes classes. But, knowing that his/her medical liscense is on the line, your doctor would not let anyone that worked for him/her in that capacity do a bad job at what they are doing. The doctor would face some pretty bad problems with loosing his /her license if there were someone working like that that did not know what they were doing. Rest assured that you are in good hands at your Doctor's office. Not all people in the medical field are certified or licensed. In some states you have to be under the Doctor's supervision....meaning being in the same facility at the time...not necessarily the same room. Do you see what I mean?  Is this good? Well, in some cases it might not be a good thing. Certified people would be logical but they cost more and health care costs go up. I personally work for a Doctor in CA. There are no certification laws here. I am a certified optician. My co-worker is a certified optician. But, she worked for 4 years with me side by side non-certified. If he is not there a certified person should be there, that is all that is required. He prefers to have certifed people working there. Some places do. Some places prefer non certified people because they are cheaper. In Arizona you have to be certified by the state as well as the general certifications that are available nation wide plus you have to do a 2 year apprenticeship. They also make a lot more money there. So, what happens there? In Arizona an Optician can take a certification to refract and write a legal glasses RX without being a doctor. We can not do that here in CA. Interresting though, huh? Ti si a very good question, and my answer might have just confused you, but it sounds like you did not recieve inferior care, so do not be worried at all. Your doctor has it under control!