How To Become An Ophthalmic Medical Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is an ophthalmic medical assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

The average ophthalmic medical assistant salary is $33,014. The most common degree is a associate degree degree with an medical assisting services major. It usually takes 6-12 months of experience to become an ophthalmic medical assistant. Ophthalmic medical assistants with a Medical Assistant certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 117,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an ophthalmic medical assistant?

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

Medical Assistant Program Director, Website

To maximize salary for a medical assistant obtaining certification from one of the credentialing organizations such as American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) can make a new hire more competitive. Continuing educations along with developing any specialized skills such as phlebotomy. Demonstrating professionalism initiative and reliability, along with gaining a strong reference from previous employers.

ScoreOphthalmic Medical AssistantUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,014

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 16%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.81%

Asian 9.41%

Black or African American 10.38%

Hispanic or Latino 21.84%

Unknown 4.69%

White 52.87%

Gender

female 88.29%

male 11.71%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.6

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an ophthalmic medical assistant

Explore ophthalmic medical assistant education requirements

Most common ophthalmic medical assistant degrees

Associate

33.3 %

Bachelor's

25.9 %

Certificate

14.8 %

Start to develop specific ophthalmic medical assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	18.45%
Patient Care	7.29%
Medical History	6.31%
Visual Acuity	5.16%
Color Vision	5.15%

Complete relevant ophthalmic medical assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New ophthalmic medical assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an ophthalmic medical assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real ophthalmic medical assistant resumes.

Gain additional ophthalmic medical assistant certifications

Ophthalmic medical assistant certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific ophthalmic medical assistant certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for ophthalmic medical assistants include Medical Assistant and Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA).

More About Certifications

Research ophthalmic medical assistant duties and responsibilities

Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Enter patient information in EHR computer system.
Learned Medflow EHR, backfill medical records and updated/creat new patient medical records.
Schedule patients for routine appointments and surgical procedures, and provide both preoperative and postoperative instruction.

Prepare your ophthalmic medical assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your ophthalmic medical assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an ophthalmic medical assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable ophthalmic medical assistant resume templates

Build a professional ophthalmic medical assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your ophthalmic medical assistant resume.