The orthoptist is a medical assistant who specializes in eye health. His job is mainly to screen for eye disorders and to do visual rehabilitation.
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The Mag of Health – France 5
A white ball that encourages squinting, a funny rule that puts the eyes to the test… these are the tools of Mathilde du Pont, 33, orthoptist for about ten years.
A mysterious profession in the minds of patients who had never used it.“When my ophthalmologist gave me my correction and told me that I needed to do an orthoptic check-up, I thought it was something to do with the feet. Orthopedist something like that so I didn’t quite understand the report. I didn’t know at all”explains Julie Marolleau.
Exercise the eye muscles
She suffers from eyestrain from screens. The orthoptist will re-educate the muscles and all of their visual function for about ten weeks.
“We try to work on both convergence, the fact of squinting, and both accommodation, the zoom of the eye which allows you to see clearly. The two things have to work together for you to be really GOOD”explains Mathilde, orthoptist.
In her office, she helps people like Julie, but also patients with strabismusvisually impaired, children and adults.
As a freelancer or as an employee at the hospital
The day is not quite over for Mathilde. She goes to the hospital where she also works. Here, his missions are completely different. Often, she only sees patients once.
“The investigation work at the hospital is really super interesting. You need a lot of patience. You have to gain the patient’s confidence in a fairly short period of time, it’s a bit of a challenge”specifies the orthoptist.
Mathilde also handles machines to get to know the eye of the patient in front of her better.“When I started working as an orthoptist, I didn’t think the eye was such a complex organ. It’s a bit fascinating to think that with such a small organ, you can see so many things “says Mathilde.
Three years of study after the baccalaureate
His investigation will help the ophthalmologist to make his diagnosis. “When we have a lot of patients to see, they help us and they speed up the consultation since in fact they pre-chew the work for us, they do things that we were doing. This allows us to respond to a demand that is important”explains Dr. Serge Doan, ophthalmologist at Bichat Hospital in Paris.
To become an orthoptist, you must obtain a certificate of orthoptist capacity after three years of study. An orthoptist earns around 1,800 euros net per month in hospital and between 2,500 and 3,500 euros net in private practice.
Since February 2023, orthoptists can also prescribe glasses under certain conditions.