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Ophthalmic Medical Technologists vs Surgical Assistants

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Ophthalmic Medical Technologists 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 Technologists Surgical Assistants
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,790
$60,290
Employment · BLS OEWS
174,060
22,860
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
29th pct
2nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Ophthalmic Medical Technologists Surgical Assistants
Median pay $48,790 $60,290
Employment 174,060 22,860
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+5.2%) About average (+5.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 13,600 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 · 29th pct Low · 2nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 57th pct · 30% 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 Expression, Near Vision, Active Listening, Speaking, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Social Perceptiveness, Written Comprehension, Service Orientation, Education and Training, Critical Thinking, Written Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Coordination, Flexibility of Closure, Selective Attention, Finger Dexterity, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Information Ordering, Category Flexibility, Perceptual Speed, Arm-Hand Steadiness.

Specific to Ophthalmic Medical Technologists

  • Mathematics
  • Instructing
  • Administrative
  • Active Learning
  • Time Management
  • Far Vision
  • Administration and Management

Specific to Surgical Assistants

  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Control Precision
  • Manual Dexterity
  • Biology
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Operations Monitoring
  • 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 , Medical software .

Specific to Ophthalmic Medical Technologists

Specific to Surgical Assistants

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Ophthalmic Medical Technologists 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 Technologists 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-technologists-vs-surgical-assistants

APA

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

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-ophthalmic-medical-technologists-vs-surgical-assistants,
  title  = {Ophthalmic Medical Technologists 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-technologists-vs-surgical-assistants}
}

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