Ophthalmic Assistant Trainee

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of diverse individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your diversity of culture, thinking, learning, and leading is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Ophthalmic Assistant Program

Job Summary:

The Ophthalmic Assistant Trainee Program is an innovative on-the-job training program and will be 36 weeks in length (9 months). At the end of the program, you will be prepared to advance your career by becoming an Ophthalmic Assistant. As an Ophthalmic Assistant, you will perform basic ophthalmic work ups for new and return patients under regular guidance and provide general clinical support such as performing visual fields or other patient testing. You will learn to perform both basic and intermediate ophthalmic exam techniques including some specialized testing. All training will be based upon The International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (IJCAHPO) Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA). IJCAHPO is the premier destination for Allied Ophthalmic Personnel (AOP) continuing education worldwide. The Ophthalmic Assistant (OPA) certification program is designed to recognize entry level assistants who have demonstrated the experience, knowledge and skills necessary to provide competent services.

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Ophthalmic Assistants are allied health care professionals that work alongside ophthalmologists to assist them with patient evaluations and with medical and surgical treatment of patients.   They can work in private practice, medical centers, hospitals, and university clinics.  The Ophthalmic Assisting Program curriculum is designed to prepare competent entry-level ophthalmic assistants in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains. Administrative duties include basic clerical functions, scheduling and receiving patients, preparing and maintaining medical records, handling telephone communication, processing and writing correspondence, and servicing as a liaison between the physician and other individuals.

Some of the duties Ophthalmic Assistants perform are:

• Taking health histories
• Testing vision
• Performing refractions
• Measuring eye pressure
• Performing imaging & diagnostic exams
• Educating patients

Working with the public and having a heart for service are requirements in the field of ophthalmic assisting.

The growth of the population and the move of health care delivery from acute care settings to outpatient settings such as physician’s offices and clinics have created an expanded job market for allied health care workers. This growth is expected to continue well into the twenty-first century.

Graduates of this program will be expected to take the International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology  (IJCAHPO) Certified Ophthalmic Assistant certification examination upon graduation or within the first 120 days of graduation.

At the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, our team of ophthalmologists and optometrists treat a wide array of eye diseases that affect eye health and vision. We bring together research, education and clinical care to advance the treatment of eye diseases. Our team members collaborate with each other, as well as with experts in other medical disciplines, to provide patients with individual care that addresses their unique needs. We offer medical and support services with easy access locations throughout Middle Tennessee, so patients can receive care closer to them.

Start date is September 30, 202