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Ophthalmic Medical Technicians vs Surgical Assistants

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Ophthalmic Medical Technicians and Surgical Assistants on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Ophthalmic Medical Technicians Surgical Assistants
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$44,080
$60,290
Employment · BLS OEWS
76,520
22,860
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
1st pct
2nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Ophthalmic Medical Technicians Surgical Assistants
Median pay $44,080 $60,290
Employment 76,520 22,860
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Growing fast (+19.8%) About average (+5.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 12,500 1,600
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 1st pct Low · 2nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 63rd pct · 35% of tasks —
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No —

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, English Language, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Near Vision, Active Listening, Speech Clarity, Written Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Speaking, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Finger Dexterity, Speech Recognition, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Coordination, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Category Flexibility, Judgment and Decision Making, Manual Dexterity, Control Precision, Visual Color Discrimination, Education and Training, Learning Strategies.

Specific to Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

  • Mathematics
  • Active Learning
  • Far Vision
  • Administrative
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Psychology
  • Instructing

Specific to Surgical Assistants

  • Biology
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Operations Monitoring
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Hearing Sensitivity

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Presentation software , Medical software .

Specific to Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

Specific to Surgical Assistants

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Ophthalmic Medical Technicians or Surgical Assistants — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Ophthalmic Medical Technicians vs Surgical Assistants." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/ophthalmic-medical-technicians-vs-surgical-assistants

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Ophthalmic Medical Technicians vs Surgical Assistants. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/ophthalmic-medical-technicians-vs-surgical-assistants

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-ophthalmic-medical-technicians-vs-surgical-assistants,
  title  = {Ophthalmic Medical Technicians vs Surgical Assistants},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/ophthalmic-medical-technicians-vs-surgical-assistants}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.