Ophthalmic medical assistants help ophthalmologists provide medical eye care. They administer diagnostic tests, measure and record vision, and test the functioning of eyes and eye muscles. They also show patients how to use eye dressings, protective shields, and safety glasses, and how to insert, remove, and care for contact lenses. Under the direction of the physician, they may administer medications, including eye drops. They also maintain optical and surgical instruments and assist the ophthalmologist in surgery.
Medical assistants work in well-lighted, clean environments.
They constantly interact with other people, and may have to handle several responsibilities at once. Some work part-time, evenings or weekends. Employment Medical assistants held about 225,000 jobs in 1996. Seven in 10 jobs were in physicians' offices, and over 1 in 10 were in offices of other health practitioners such as chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists. The rest were in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities.