What does a Ophthalmic Medical Technician do?

Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions. Day to day that includes work like take and document patients' medical histories and Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.

What skills should a Ophthalmic Medical Technician put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, and Social Perceptiveness among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Ophthalmic Medical Technician list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes AcuityPro, Email software, EyeMD EMR Healthcare Systems EyeMD EMR, ezChartWriter, and iChartPlus. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Ophthalmic Medical Technician work?

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Certified Ophthalmic Surgical Assistant, Certified Ophthalmic Technician, COT, and Ophthalmic Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Ophthalmic Medical Technician need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 59% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Ophthalmic Medical Technician role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Ophthalmic Medical Technician resume example

A resume for a Ophthalmic Medical Technician needs to show the work itself: assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions. Day to day that means work like this: take and document patients' medical histories; conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Certified Ophthalmic Surgical Assistant
Certified Ophthalmic Technician
COT
Ophthalmic Assistant
Ophthalmic Tech
Ophthalmic Technician
Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technician
Certified Ophthalmic Medical Tech
COT-SA
Health Technician
Health Tech
Ophthalmic Diagnostic Sonographer
Ophthalmic Medical Assistant
Ophthalmic Medical Tech
Medical Tech
Ocular Care Tech
Ophthalmology Tech
Optometric Tech

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technician (Certified Ophthalmic Medical Tech)
Certified Ophthalmic Technician (COT)
Certified Ophthalmic Technician-Surgical Assistant (COT-SA)
Health Technician (Health Tech)
Ophthalmic Medical Technician (Ophthalmic Medical Tech)
Ophthalmic Tech (Ophthalmic Technician)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

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.
Measure and record lens power, using lensometers.
Administer topical ophthalmic or oral medications.
Conduct visual field tests to measure field of vision.
Assist physicians in performing ophthalmic procedures, including surgery.
Measure corneal curvature with keratometers or ophthalmometers to aid in the diagnosis of conditions, such as astigmatism.
Conduct ocular motility tests to measure function of eye muscles.
Clean or sterilize ophthalmic or surgical instruments.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Take and document patients' medical histories, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Operate ophthalmic equipment, such as autorefractors, phoropters, tomographs, or retinoscopes, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Take anatomical or functional ocular measurements of the eye or surrounding tissue, such as axial length measurements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

AcuityPro
Email software
EyeMD EMR Healthcare Systems EyeMD EMR
ezChartWriter
iChartPlus
Medflow Complete
MediPro Medisoft Clinical
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
NaviNet Open
Web browser software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

A-scan biometers
Amsler grids
Automated lensometers
Autorefractors
B-Scan biometers
Bio-microscopes
Brightness acuity testers
Color blindness tests
Corneal pachymeters
Corneal topographers
Digital pupillometers
Eye chart projectors

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

AcuityPro
EyeMD EMR Healthcare Systems EyeMD EMR

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Speaking
03Reading Comprehension
04Service Orientation
05Social Perceptiveness
06Writing
07Active Learning
08Coordination
09Critical Thinking
10Monitoring

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
Medicine and Dentistry
English Language
Mathematics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

59%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
27%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
9%Associate's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Ophthalmic Medical Technician do?: Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions. Day to day that includes work like take and document patients' medical histories and Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.
What skills should a Ophthalmic Medical Technician put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, and Social Perceptiveness among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Ophthalmic Medical Technician list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes AcuityPro, Email software, EyeMD EMR Healthcare Systems EyeMD EMR, ezChartWriter, and iChartPlus. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Ophthalmic Medical Technician work?: O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Certified Ophthalmic Surgical Assistant, Certified Ophthalmic Technician, COT, and Ophthalmic Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Ophthalmic Medical Technician need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 59% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Ophthalmic Medical Technician role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.