Eyesight. It’s one of the five senses that a person cannot afford to ignore.
This is why San Jacinto College students in the eye care technology program are trained extensively for their careers through classroom instruction, laboratory practice, and clinical rotations in ophthalmic offices and clinics.
The San Jacinto College program is the only accredited technician-level training program in state of Texas from the Commission on Accreditation for Ophthalmic Medical Programs (CoA-OMP). This serves as proof that the well-established program provides students with plenty of real-world experience before they even graduate from the College.
Debra Clarke, program director of eye care technology at San Jacinto College, said the time for more people to enter into the field of eye care
is now.
“Due to more people retiring and needing health care services such as eye care, there is a high demand for more professionals who are specialized in this field,” said Clarke. “Many of our students are offered employment prior to graduation. The need is definitely there and is increasing each year.”
One of the many ways that the eye care technology program prepares students for employment is through clinical rotations and service learning opportunities each semester. San Jacinto College students are allowed to serve as actual eye care technicians through the highly-successful See to Succeed initiative, a partnership of Houston eye care professionals who team up to help children across the region receive the vision care they need free of charge.
Students also become a member of a very active student group, the San Jacinto College Eye Con’s Club. Just last year, the club performed vision screenings for employees and families of the Delta Chemical Health and Wellness Fair. Through such activities, eye care technology students are able to impact people’s lives through their work before receiving their certificate or degree.
The San Jacinto College eye care technology program offers an occupational certificate for optician training, a certificate of technology for para-optometric training, and the associate of applied science degree in eye care technology. The program is designed to correlate classroom and laboratory experiences with clinical experience in eye care facilities.
Graduates of the associate of applied science program are eligible to petition for examination through the Join Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology at the certified ophthalmic technician level. Graduates of both the associate of applied science program and the certificate of technology are eligible to petition to sit of the National Contact Lens Examiner. Graduates of any of the three programs may petition to sit for the American Board of Opticians exam.
Eye care technology graduates have a variety of career options to choose from that include clinical research technician, contact lens technician, field service technician, ophthalmic assistant, ophthalmic surgical assistant, ophthalmic technician, optician, optometric assisting, and retinal photographer.
Jeannie Peng-Armao