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Careers> Optometrist Jobs, Schools, Optometry Career Programs
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Optometrist Careers
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Health Care Jobs.
What an Optometrist does:
Optometry is a health care profession concerned
with the eyes and vision. Optometry is one of
the fastest growing healthcare sectors.
Optometry Professionals known as Optometrists
provide vision care to people of all ages.
Optometrists or Doctors of Optometry (OD) do
much more than prescribing and fitting contact
lenses and glasses, they can diagnose conditions
such as glaucoma and can detect diseases that
affect many other organs such as diabetes and
high blood pressure. Optometrists also provide
care to patients before and after laser eye
surgery.
Optometrists can work in a variety of
settings from private practice to large retail
chains. Others choose to work in public clinics.
Some optometrists specialize to work with
certain eye sight conditions or certain groups
of patients e.g. the elderly or children.
The
main duties of an Optometrist include:
- Examining people’s eyes
- Diagnosing vision problems i.e.
nearsightedness and farsightedness
- Testing the patients depth and color
perception, and their ability to focus
- Prescribing eyeglasses or contact lenses
- Providing treatments i.e. vision therapy or
low-vision rehabilitation
- Testing for glaucoma and other eye diseases
- Diagnosing systemic diseases i.e. diabetes,
high blood pressure
- Referring patients to other health care
professionals
- Providing pre and postoperative care to
patients who had cataracts removed or undergone
laser eye surgery
Education & Qualifications:
To become an Optometrist, you will need to
obtain a Doctor of Optometry degree. Degree
programs are 4 years in length. Admission to
Optometry school is competitive. Having a
bachelor’s degree in Science (BS) is the minimum
entry requirement for many Optometry Schools.
Programs are accredited by the Accreditation
Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) of the
American Optometric Association (AOA).
Applicants must also take the Optometry
Admissions Test (OAT).
Salary & Job Prospects:
The job outlook for Optometry jobs is favorable,
as it is predicted that there will be a growth
in the number of people requiring vision
correction. The increasing number of senior
citizens with age related eye diseases such as
glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy,
hypertensive retinopathy and macular
degeneration will also require optometry
services. Working conditions for Optometry
Professionals are optimum, with regular hours
and a minimum of emergency calls. Also due to
the number of job openings, Optometrists have a
choice of locations to live and work in, unlike
other healthcare specialists.
Find an Allied Health School:
Use the red search box above, to find Allied
Health schools and colleges in your area that
offer optometry programs.
Below is a list of some of the various types of
allied health careers / professions: |
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