Course Offerings

Become an Optical Assistant

Course ID: OPT-3020AE
Overview
Course Outline
Requirements
Intended Audience
More Details

Learn why optical assisting is such as interesting job and how rewarding it can be to help people solve their vision problems. This course is a great way to start your career as it will help you better understand everything that's involved in the job and how you can become certified and licensed optical assistant. You will be amazed to learn all the different places optical assistants can work! You'll cover optical assisting in private practice, healthcare clinics, the military, teaching facilities, and in retail sales. You'll discover the personal and professional skills needed to work in a front and back office and in an optical dispensary and lab. You will understand all the things optical assistants must know about frames, styles, lenses, contact lenses, and working with people. Along the way, you'll discover how the human eye works, and examine some common eye conditions. Finally, you will learn how to become certified and licensed, which will open up even more opportunities for you and identify you as an expert. This course is an ideal springboard for starting a career in this growing and ever-in-demand field!

Course Objectives

Learn all the different places optical assistants can work.

Discover the personal and professional skills needed to work in a front and back office and in an optical dispensary and lab.

Learn how our amazing eyes work and come to understand some common eye conditions.

Outline of instruction

Lesson 1 - What Optical Assistants Do
Discover the wide range of opportunities available in optical assisting as you determine whether this fun and in-demand career is right for you.

Lesson 2 - The Amazing Eye
Take a tour of the parts of the eye, and find out how they work together to create the miracle of vision. This lesson will give you a big head start on the path to becoming an optical assistant.

Lesson 3 - Common Eye Problems
Common eye problems cause millions of people to need glasses, contact lenses, vision therapy, or low vision aids. You'll also learn about common eye disorders and receive important tips on protecting the eyesight.

Lesson 4 - Other Eye Conditions and Terms
Explore eye conditions like color-blindness, having a "lazy eye", and what it means to be legally blind.

Lesson 5 - Front Office Skills for Success
Take a look at front office optical assisting-a great career if you're a "people" person and a multi-tasker. Learn about becoming a goodwill ambassador, triage, and the ins and outs of scheduling patients efficiently.

Lesson 6 - Back Office Basics
Check out back office assisting if you're looking to perform hands-on patient care. Learn about taking a patient's medical history, the tests used to gather vision data, and two specialty areas in back office assisting: contact lens fitting and surgical assisting.

Lesson 7 - The Prescription
Gain the power to understand the language of optical prescriptions! Learn how those numbers and symbols on an eye doctor's prescription translate into just the right lenses for a patient.

Lesson 8 - Glasses: Function and Fashion
Learn the insider secrets of eyeglass styling so you can pick frame styles that make most people look attractive and feel confident.

Lesson 9 - All About Contact Lenses
Contact lenses help correct vision. Learn how optical assistants fit contact lenses and educate patients about using them correctly.

Lesson 10 - Essential Customer Service Skills
Look at the best ways to make people feel welcome, respected, and well treated at every step of their visit to a doctor's office or retail store. You'll also get great tips for smoothing the waters if problems arise.

Lesson 11 - Specialties: Something for Everyone!
Take a look at three of the most interesting optical assisting specialties: low vision clinics, vision therapy, and refractive surgery.

Lesson 12 - Certification and Licensing
Learn how certification puts you in line for promotions and management positions as you take a look at the different types of certification you can achieve in the optical assisting field.

Contact Hours

CEUs

Industry Standard, State or National Certification

None

CE or CU Articulation

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Text and Supplies Needed

Hardware Requirements:
This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:
PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:
Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Clinical Site/Special Facilities

None

Requirements for Successful Completion

90% attendance"• Students must successfully pass 10 quizzes with a minimum grade of 70% by the second quiz attempt.
• If all quizzes are not passed with 70 or better by the second attempt, the final exam score must be 70% or higher on the first attempt for successful completion.
• The Final Exam must be taken by the Wake Tech course end date"

Accreditation/Special Approval Requirements

N/A

Intended Audience

If you think you'd like to become an optical assistant, this is the course for you! You'll take a comprehensive look at the diverse world of optical assisting. You'll see why optometry is such an interesting field and how rewarding it can be to help people solve their vision problems.