Certified ophthalmic medical technologists (COMTs) have become widely used in the ophthalmic medical practice and, therefore, persons with this certification are in great demand. There are approximately twenty thousand board certified ophthalmologists in the United States, while the Joint Commission for Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) lists the number of active and inactive COMTs in the United States as approximately seven hundred.
Ophthalmologists have come to expect a high level of expertise and knowledge in clinical skills and diagnostic testing. A variety of employment opportunities is available to the COMT. A 2000 publication from the American Medical Association on the employment rates of Allied Health graduates lists Ophthalmic Technologist as the third highest rate of employment (96.6%) of all allied health professions.
The Emory Ophthalmic Technology Program
There is a great ongoing need for comprehensively trained, qualified personnel to support ophthalmologists in the clinical practice of medicine and in ophthalmic research. The Department of Ophthalmology offers a program that will grant a master's of medical science degree as well as prepare its students to sit for national board examinations to become certified ophthalmic medical technologists. Alternatively students with their Bachelor's degree and their COMT Certification can complete their Masters degree in as little as two semesters.
The program is accredited through 2009 by COA-OMP, the Committee on Accreditation for Ophthalmic Medical Personnel, 2025 Woodlane Drive, St. Paul, Minnesota 55125, telephone 800.284.3937 or 612.731.2944.
The program accepts students annually for admission to the two-year course of study, which begins in June.
For more information about the program:
Admissions Requirement
Technical Standards
