i have been working as an optometric technician for the last three years now and am currently in my last year as an undergrad. i got my job by answering an ad that was placed in the newspaper and the only type of medical experience i had prior to this job was as a junior volunteer at a hospital so nothing optical at all. i work for a private practice husband/wife team. i love my job and have learned so much from it and what the optical industry is all about. the interesting thing is that i was pre-med before this job but as a result from working here i changed to pre-opt because the profession is just so effin amazing!!! anyways, i basically got trained on the job and now my duties include managing patient flow, scheduling appointments and other clerical work, billing vsp insurance claims, running diagnostic tests on patients such as visual fields, helping patients pick frames, taking pds, doing contact lens teaches, sending out rxs to the optical lab, dispensing frames when they come in to the patients, etc, etc. i think i am lucky that the office is small >>only two other workers besides me<< because then i probably would not have such a great chance at being able to do everything. i also love how i get to attend all the different industry seminars and meeting the reps and what not. i would definitely say that working at an optometrist's office is the BEST and you should definitely try it if you can 🙂 and plus, the optometrists become like your mentor and so you have someone that you'll be able to direct all your questions to.
