Home / Career Explorer / Healthcare

Opticians, Dispensing

	Median Wage (USD, 2024)	Projected Job Openings (2023-2033)	Projected Growth (2023-2033)
National Statistics	$46,560	7400	2.9%
State Statistics	-	-	-
City Statistics	-	-	-

Statistics

National

State

City

State

City

$46,560

Median Wage (USD, 2023)

7400

Projected Job Openings (2023-2033)

2.9%

Projected Growth (2023-2033)

Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.

Experience Requirements Overview

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)

Related Work Experience: N.A.

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

On-the-Job Training: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

Detailed Work Activities

Order medical supplies or equipment.
Measure the physical or physiological attributes of patients.
Fabricate medical devices.
Prepare detailed work plans.
Plan production or operational procedures or sequences.
Fit eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other vision aids.
Recommend types of assistive devices.
Record patient medical histories.
Perform clerical work in medical settings.
Process medical billing information.
Recommend types of assistive devices.
Merchandise healthcare products or services.
Fit eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other vision aids.
Evaluate treatment options to guide medical decisions.
Instruct patients in the use of assistive equipment.
Operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical instruments or equipment.
Instruct patients in the use of assistive equipment.
Repair medical or dental assistive devices.
Gather medical information from patient histories.
Verify accuracy of patient information.
Perform clerical work in medical settings.
Merchandise healthcare products or services.
Fabricate medical devices.
Fabricate medical devices.
Fabricate medical devices.
Train medical providers.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general.
Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications.
Perform administrative duties, such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.
Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames.
Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses.
Supervise the training of student opticians.
Order and purchase frames and lenses.
Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses.
Repair damaged frames.
Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise.

Work Styles

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self-Control

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Independence

Innovation

Analytical Thinking

For more information on this career visit: https://explorehealthcareers.org/careers/technologists-and-technicians/optician-dispensing/

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 30.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Session has been expired