Optometrist assistant vs md

The differences between optometrist assistants and mds can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an optometrist assistant and an md. Additionally, an optometrist assistant has an average salary of $122,813, which is higher than the $75,011 average annual salary of an md.

The top three skills for an optometrist assistant include patients, appointment scheduling and exam rooms. The most important skills for an md are patients, customer service, and surgical procedures.

Optometrist assistant vs md overview

	Optometrist Assistant	MD
Yearly salary	$122,813	$75,011
Hourly rate	$59.04	$36.06
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	48,461	58,569
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	12	12

Optometrist assistant vs md salary

Optometrist assistants and mds have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Optometrist Assistant	MD
Average salary	$122,813	$75,011
Salary range	Between $85,000 And $177,000	Between $25,000 And $224,000
Highest paying City	-	Vancouver, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Atrium Health Floyd
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between optometrist assistant and md education

There are a few differences between an optometrist assistant and an md in terms of educational background:

	Optometrist Assistant	MD
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Optometrist assistant vs md demographics

Here are the differences between optometrist assistants' and mds' demographics:

	Optometrist Assistant	MD
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 11.8% Female, 88.2%	Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 24.7% Asian, 9.9% White, 50.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 14.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 9.1% White, 47.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between optometrist assistant and md duties and responsibilities

Optometrist assistant example responsibilities.

Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Pretest patients on NCT, OCT, refractomotor, visual field machine, and retinal camera.
Check in and work up patients for eye exam, assist optometrist with retinal photos, glaucoma testing and basic refraction.
Perform require pretests for the Dr's.
Perform OCT scan of optic nerve, macula, and fundus photo.
Clean and maintain equipment and instruments in the optometric area, pre-test room, and restock inventories.

Md example responsibilities.

Manage the office regarding Clia and OSHA laws and regulations
Manage on call pager for after hours triage and urgent matters while staying in complete communication with the physician.
Manage patient files by making new charts, keying all encounters through ICD-9 coding procedures and posting in patient database.
Operate electrocardiograph (EKG), call to schedule test for patients and routine office visits.
Back office responsibilities include rooming patients, obtaining vitals, chief complaint and documenting into EMR system.
Assist physicians in exams rooms, administer intramuscular injections and perform venipuncture on adult and pediatric patients.

Optometrist assistant vs md skills

Common optometrist assistant skills

Patients, 37%
Appointment Scheduling, 7%
Exam Rooms, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Eye Exams, 3%
Front Desk, 3%

Common md skills

Patients, 33%
Customer Service, 8%
Surgical Procedures, 6%
Surgery, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Vital Signs, 4%