Certified Ophthalmic Technician

What Ophthalmic Technicians Do

Ophthalmic technicians are positions that many employers look for when seeking intermediate help for their practices, and becoming certified can increase the chances of landing a job. Like other certified professionals, certified ophthalmic technicians show that they have the knowledge and expertise necessary to perform the duties required of them. Certification acts as a reassurance, that ophthalmic technicians have been tested and offer professionalism to the career through continuing education and participation in the field.

COT Certification Advantages

The first big advantage of becoming certified is the affect it has on employers. Employers love experienced workers to come in and work fluidly right away, and certified ophthalmic technicians give many employers that thought. By comparing employment ads for ophthalmic technicians on any career website, it is easy to find many that either state the need for certified ophthalmic technicians, or list certification in the preference or skill section. This is generally more frequent for busy practices that do not have the time to train basic procedures. Another advantage is the professional growth that can come from further certification as a certified ophthalmic medical technologist, which can lead to other career opportunities in many areas.

Ophthalmic Technician Certification

Ophthalmic technician certification is offered by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO®) that also certifies other ophthalmic medical personnel and offers continuing education programs. To become certified, there are three different requirement tracks that candidates can qualify for before being allowed to take the certification exam and skill evaluation. Each track has its own education and work experience requirements, and unlike the COA certification, there is no independent study option. There is a more diverse option for education that allows graduation from an accredited program for ophthalmic technicians from the Commission on Accreditation for Ophthalmic Medical Programs (COA-OMP), CMA, or Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). Recertification requires 37 credits with a 3 year period.

COT Certification Requirements

The three tracks for qualification to take the COT exam are listed below. There are time frame requirements for each component. For example, an academic program may need to be completed within 12 months prior to submitting your application. This is shown in the parentheses next to each item, which is in months.

• Graduate from formal training program
  • Graduated from a CoA-OMP, CMA, or CAAHEP accredited Ophthalmic Technicians program (12)
  • A Skill Evaluation application and all examinations must be completed within 24 months of initial application.
  • If not within 12 months, earn 12 JCAHPO Group A credits for each year following graduation within the 36 months prior to submitting your application
• Certified COA with experience
  • 2,000 hours of work as a certified ophthalmic assistant under ophthalmologic supervision (24)
    
  • Earned 12 JCAHPO Group A credits (12)
  • Maintain certification as a COA before obtaining COT
    
• Certified orthoptist with experience
  
• 2,000 hours of work as a certified orthoptist or OC(C) under ophthalmologic supervision (24)
  
• Earned 12 JCAHPO Group A credits (12)
  
• Maintain certification as a certified orthoptist (by the American Orthoptic Council or the Canadian Orthoptic Council) before obtaining COT

Certified Ophthalmic Technician Exam

The COT exam consists of 200 scored multiple-choice questions, and must be taken in a 3 hour examination time. Testers are scored on an individual basis without measuring the results of other examinees. The COT exam has questions relating to aspects of assisting an ophthalmologist, with basics like patient history, and more intermediate topics like ocular motility and pharmacology. As of 2009, the current outline for the certified ophthalmic technician exam is listed in the table below, and a more complete breakdown of subject areas can be found on the website.

Content Area % of exam

1 History Taking 7%
2 Basic Skills & Lensometry 8%
3 Patient Services 4%
4 Basic Tonometry 4%
5 Instrument Maintenance 6%
6 General Medical Knowledge 10%
7 Clinical Optics 14%
8 Basic Ocular Motility 10%
9 Visual Fields 12%
10 Contact Lenses 10%
11 Intermediate Tonometry 4%
12 Ocular Pharmacology 8%
13 Photography 3%

COT Skill Evaluation

The Skill Evaluation test is designed to measure competence in seven skills most commonly performed by certified ophthalmic technicians. These skills include clinical optics/lensometry, visual fields, ocular motility, contact lens/keratometry, clinical optics/retinoscopy, clinical optics/refinement, and tonometry. For the skills evaluation, a 2 hour test to complete all seven tasks relating to the skills mentioned above is given. Each skill is scored separately on technique and accuracy of results, with a final score of either “satisfactory” or “non-satisfactory”, and passing all seven skills is required for passing the Skill Evaluation test.