Optician

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An optician is an eye care professional who provides corrective lenses based on a refraction prescription supplied by a ophthalmologist or optometrist. The lenses may be contact lenses, spectacles or rarely as a monocle.

The term 'Optician' is also used to refer to retailers providing the above services.

An optician has many different tasks, some of which include: Learning about all different insurance companies to see what kind of coverage they carry and to submit claims for their patients, perform such pre-screenings as a pre-determination for a patient's prescription or pre-screening for glaucoma, and some labs will even cut and fit their own lenses. Opticians work directly under the optometrist or ophthalmologist. Once a doctor has given his recommendations, the optician will work with the patient to find the best frames, lenses, or contacts to meet the patient's needs. Opticians gather information from the patient such as what they will be using the glasses for, level of activity, and facial features. Additional duties include taking measurements of clients’ eyes, such as the distance from the lens to the eye surface, or how far it is from pupil to pupil. A lensometer can be used to take measurements for clients who do not have a prescription. Opticians may also look up the clients’ records or verify information with the clients’ eye doctors. They are required to know vast amounts of information about the human eye and must take regular tests to advance in their career to stay informed with the rapid growth of technology in the field. They can work in any eye care center from a special clinic to a retail store such as Wal-mart or Target.

If one is looking to pursue a career as an optician, there is an increasing demand for glasses and contact lenses, so job growth should be average for dispensing opticians through 2012. The demographic of middle age and elderly people is expected to grow rapidly, creating more demand by new corrective lens users and those that require regular vision care. Source: Bureau of Labor and Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor