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Optometrists

$125.59K Median Salary 1.7K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 9% Job Growth

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About This Career

Diagnose, manage, and treat conditions and diseases of the human eye and visual system. Examine eyes and visual system, diagnose problems or impairments, prescribe corrective lenses, and provide treatment. May prescribe therapeutic drugs to treat specific eye conditions.

Reported Job Titles

Optometrist, Optometry Doctor (OD), Therapeutic Optometrist

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Expression

Problem Sensitivity

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Written Comprehension

Flexibility of Closure

Information Ordering

Written Expression

Category Flexibility

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Finger Dexterity

Far Vision

Selective Attention

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Control Precision

Fluency of Ideas

Perceptual Speed

Visual Color Discrimination

Manual Dexterity

Mathematical Reasoning

Time Sharing

Visualization

Knowledge

Medicine and Dentistry

Biology

Customer and Personal Service

English Language

Mathematics

Education and Training

Therapy and Counseling

Administration and Management

Psychology

Economics and Accounting

Physics

Administrative

Computers and Electronics

Law and Government

Personnel and Human Resources

Sales and Marketing

Public Safety and Security

Skills

Active Listening

Critical Thinking

Reading Comprehension

Speaking

Writing

Social Perceptiveness

Science

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Judgment and Decision Making

Instructing

Monitoring

Persuasion

Service Orientation

Time Management

Active Learning

Learning Strategies

Management of Personnel Resources

Mathematics

Negotiation

Systems Analysis

Systems Evaluation

Technology Skills

Data base user interface and query software

Medical software

Spreadsheet software

Accounting software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Calendar and scheduling software

Tools

Eye charts or vision cards

Ophthalmic eye test lenses

Opticians tools

Ophthalmic lens holder

Eye occluders

Ophthalmic instrument table accessories

Ophthalmic prisms

Ophthalmic retinoscope accessories

Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets

Ophthalmic lensometers

Blood pressure cuff kits

Ophthalmic surgical knives or blades

Color perception testing lanterns

Lens measuring equipment

Depth perception apparatus

Medical acoustic stethoscopes

Fundus cameras

Ophthalmic retinoscopes

Thickness measuring devices

Ophthalmic lachrymal probes

Ophthalmic irrigation or aspiration supplies

Loupes

Ophthalmic slit lamps

Keratometers

Photo attachments for microscopes

Binocular vision test sets

Scleral shells

Ophthalmic tonometers

Phoropter units

Corneal topographers

Notebook computers

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Ophthalmic transilluminators

Abilities

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
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 that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
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.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.

Knowledge

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.
Biology: Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
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.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
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.
Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Economics and Accounting: Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Physics: Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills

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.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Science: Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.

Technology Skills

Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Medical software: Henry Schein Dentrix; Medical condition coding software; Medical procedure coding software; MEDITECH software
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Calendar and scheduling software: Appointment scheduling software

Tools

Eye charts or vision cards: Snellen eye charts; Visual acuity testing cards
Ophthalmic eye test lenses: Adult trial frames; Bagolini lenses; Pediatric trial frames; Trial lenses
Opticians tools: Metric rules
Ophthalmic lens holder: 4-well lens holders; 8-well lens flippers; Halberg clips
Eye occluders: Handheld occluders
Ophthalmic instrument table accessories: Animated fixation targets; Fixation targets; Handheld fixation lights
Ophthalmic prisms: Combined vertical/horizontal prism bars; Fresnel prisms
Ophthalmic retinoscope accessories: Retinoscopy racks; Skiascopic lens rack
Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets: Ophthalmoscopes; Otoscopes
Ophthalmic lensometers: Optometric lensometers
Blood pressure cuff kits: Sphygmomanometers
Ophthalmic surgical knives or blades: Ophthalmic surgical blades
Color perception testing lanterns: Color vision testing devices
Lens measuring equipment: Lens clocks
Depth perception apparatus: Lang stereo tests; Randot stereo tests; Titmus stereo tests; TNO stereo tests
Medical acoustic stethoscopes: Mechanical stethoscopes
Fundus cameras: Retinal cameras
Ophthalmic retinoscopes: Retinoscopes
Thickness measuring devices: Digital thickness gauges
Ophthalmic lachrymal probes: Lachrymal dilators
Ophthalmic irrigation or aspiration supplies: Eye lavage kits
Loupes: Jewelers' loupes
Ophthalmic slit lamps:
Keratometers:
Photo attachments for microscopes: Photomicroscopes
Binocular vision test sets: Vision test equipment
Scleral shells: Scleral depressors
Ophthalmic tonometers:
Phoropter units: Phoroptors
Corneal topographers:
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:
Ophthalmic transilluminators:

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