| OPHTHALMIC
ASSISTANT PROGRAM
What is an Ophthalmic Assistant? A health care professional who assists a physician / surgeon during eye examinations, treatment administration, and patient monitoring. Training includes instruction in testing ocular functions (visual acuity, color vision, alignment), measuring lens power (lensometry), measuring intraocular pressure (tonometry), measuring side vision (perimetry), caring for and maintaining ophthalmic instruments and equipment, administering topical ophthalmic and oral medications, taking a general medical and ophthalmic history, and record keeping. Those who apply for national certification and become a COA may advance along a career ladder to become an ophthalmic technician or technologist as well as specialty certification in photography, biometry, surgical assisting, low vision, and other areas of medical eye care. Program Approval The Committee on Accreditation for Ophthalmic Medical Personnel (CoA–OMP) awarded this program continuing approval in November 2001. The program will reapply for continued approval in 2006. National Certification Eligibility High school graduates are eligible to apply for national certification as a COA once they complete the Ophthalmic Assistant Program (8 credits) plus 2,000 clock hours of work experience with an employer in ophthalmology. Candidates must work under the supervision of an ophthalmologist to apply for certification. For information on the national certification examination contact JCAHPO directly at (800) 284-3937 or visit their web site at www.jcahpo.org. All students must complete OTP 100, 101, and 102 to graduate. Students are admitted in the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms and may take classes in any order. Theory courses are lecture-based. The skills course includes hands-on workshops in the schools laboratory and clinic settings. For this program, a student is considered full time if enrolled in a minimum of 3 credits. Tuition Charged on a credit hour basis. Check the current schedule of classes published in the Eye Tech News. The $30.00 application fee is non-refundable and includes one attempt at the HOBET. It is charged once, when students apply. The $25.00 registration fee is non-refundable and is charged each term when a student registers for classes. Tuition Textbooks Students should plan to budget approximately $150 for books. Required books may be adjusted based on availability from the publisher. They may be purchased at the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology at registration or on the first day of class. Those who have internet access may contact the DIO for information about purchasing books online.
Commonly Asked Questions How long is the program? The individual student determines the length to completion. The average length is one academic year (10 months) on a part time basis, taking one course per term. Students may graduate as soon as all of the credit hour requirements and financial obligations to the school are met. When do classes meet? Classes are conveniently offered on evenings and weekends so as not to conflict with the clinical practicum rotations. Most of our students work full time and could not attend a traditional day school. Does DIO offer distance learning? We do not currently offer off-site classes. Our facility in Grosse Pointe includes full audiovisual capabilities plus three laboratories dedicated for student use only. The labs are equipped with 2 exam units (with refractors and slit lamps), keratometers, perimeters, a tangent screen, ophthalmoscope, 5 trial lens sets, 20 schematic eyes and retinoscopes for 10 students, European and American lensmeters and lens clocks, prisms, color vision equipment, and many donated spectacles for practice. It would be difficult to duplicate such a site for student use only. A clinical practice next to the school permits access to a full range of automated and specialized equipment. What is the class size? Lecture courses may enroll up to 25 students per term, but the average class is between 10-15 students. OTP 102 is limited to 10 students per term to maintain a 1-to-5 student-to-teacher ratio. If guests are admitted to a class, additional co-instructors are called in to maintain the student to teacher ratio. How do I enroll? 1. Complete an application
form. Deanna Presnell, M.Ed.,
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