Pre-Med Opportunities at Brinton Vision

Medical / surgical technician (gap-year)

For over five years, Brinton Vision has worked with students that are pre-med, pre-optometry, and pre-PA school to create full time positions offering an in depth learning experience in refractive surgery. Gap-year students working at Brinton Vision can anticipate multiple patient interactions weekly, with practice involving slit lamp exams, refraction, critical thinking, and visualizing eyes at one day post op for a range of procedures. This is a unique opportunity offering experience with refractive surgery post operative exams to prepare for a lifetime of confidence with co-management.

This is a full-time track where the technicians will work patients through a customer service focused exam, followed by discussion with our refractive surgery expert doctors to determine candidacy. Technicians also work with post operative patients at all points in their healing process, and will learn from our doctors on how to counsel patients with any range of experiences. Emphasis as well on business development and how to market to an online audience effectively.

CURRENT STUDENTS

Adam, Anna, Braden, Carissa, Stefanie, Carlo, Joe, Eghosa, Sara, Gus, Lindsay, Hasan, Helen, Jada, Sanjana, Kyle

Those selected will be strong applicants who are taking 1-2 gap years to work in our practice before MD,PA, or OD school. We do not consider individuals who will work for us less than 12 months.

Position summary

Vision Care Partners is hiring college graduates who are preparing to enter medical school or optometry school within the next two to three years. These individuals are trained in our office as medical/surgical technicians to work full-time alongside our regular, tenured staff. Our “gap year” technicians receive extensive clinical training in diagnostic testing, medical history taking, electronic medical record (EMR) use, scribing and exam documentation, one-on-one patient care, and customer service. Our technicians also receive extensive surgical training in processing and management of sterile surgical instrumentation, scrubbing and the practice of sterile technique, medical laser calibration and operation, administering medications for patient procedural sedation, and all other aspects of the surgical technologist role.

Dr. Brinton is a fellowship trained, board certified physician and surgeon. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and is an internationally recognized specialist in the field of LASIK and vision correction surgery. Vision Care Partners is an FDA clinical research trial site and has its own in-office surgical suite where we are able to perform the full range of laser and lens vision correction procedures. Students will receive both clinical and surgical training that provides valuable experience for entering medical/optometry school as well as for the application process.

Position duties

• Conduct a variety of medical tests
• Perform minor medical procedures
• In conjunction with our doctors, effectively educate patients on the benefits and risks of Vision Care Partners’ seven procedures
• Act as an effective liaison on medical questions between patient and surgeon
• Guide patients through the logistics of scheduling and financing vision correction procedures
• Preparing surgical setup including layout of sterile instruments and laser calibration
• Sterilizing equipment and taking an inventory to ensure there are enough supplies for surgery
• Preparing the patient for surgery
• Passing the surgeon instruments and sterile supplies throughout the procedure

Skills/requirements

• Limited to pre-med, pre-PA, and pre-optometry gap year students (students who will have graduated with a four-year bachelor’s degree and who are planning to apply to medial, optometry, or physician assistant school)
• Ability to be a self-starter and make decisions on your own
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and listening skills
• Ability to stay organized in busy situations and adapt to new situations
• A positive attitude every day to share with staff and patients
• Sense of humor: we like to have fun while we work hard

The perks

• Our position includes training on scribing to learn terminology, as well as doctor skills such as refracting, slit lamp exam skills, thorough evaluation of patients’ corneas, use of BIO, minor procedures such as punctal plug placement, creating surgical marks, applanation tonometry.
• Skills developed will assist in a future of surgical co-management confidence after examining hundreds of one day LASIK/Refractive Lens Exchange (similar to cataract)/Implantable contact lens post-ops. Our students become proficient at evaluating anterior chamber cell and flare, determining ICL positioning and vault, evaluating LASIK flap healing, and treatment of common day one complications.
• Beyond doctor skills, our students are trained with our doctors on customer service and marketing skills. This includes reputation management, search engine optimization, digital marketing, and online presence. As a cash only based practice we can offer a unique perspective on direct to consumer advertising.
• Typical hours for a student technician are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Competitive pay with base plus incentive

Shadowing opportunities

Brinton Vision medical technicians benefit from a wealth of shadowing opportunities in our building. Since our clinic is generally closed on Wednesdays, our gap year medical technicians have taken advantage of the wide range of specialties in our building to get direct physician, PA, NP, and OD contact while seeing patients and performing procedures. The specialties in our building include:

Surgical

• Orthopedic surgery
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Otolaryngology / ear nose and throat surgery
• Plastic surgery
• General surgery
• Colorectal surgery

Medical

• Orthopedic sports medicine
• Family medicine
• Internal medicine
• Concierge / boutique medicine
• Nephrology
• Fertility medicine / assisted reproductive technologies (gynecology)

Other

• Oral surgery
• Orthodontics
• Periodontics
• Prosthodontics
• Endodontics
• Dentistry
• Physical therapy

Our doctors will be happy to arrange shadowing opportunities with these medical professionals above for our medical technicians in good standing after 90 days.

The benefits

• Typical pay – starting $17/hr, average $20/hr over two years
• Four day work week
• Monthly tuition reimbursement
• Student loan payoff program
• Paid gym membership
• Health and dental insurance
• Generous vacation/PTO days
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly company contribution/match
• 401k
• Vision benefits
• Regular staff outings provided by the company
• Our doctors write letters of recommendation that have helped our medical technicians gain admission to medical schools from WashU to Mizzou and Yale