New Optometric Technician Certificate Program First in Capital Region

Central Penn College is launching a new Optometric Technician Certificate (Op Tech) program, only the third such program in Pennsylvania and the first for the capital region. Classes for the 9-month, 18-credit program start July 5.

“The Op Tech program is a key addition to our Allied Health programming that prepares students to transition seamlessly from the classroom to the workplace,” said Dr. Krista Wolfe, vice president of Academic Affairs and provost at the Summerdale-based institution.

“We are proud to be the first higher education institution in central Pennsylvania to offer an Optometric Technician program,” said Wolfe. Currently, there are only two other Op Tech programs administered by higher education institutions in the state––one in Philadelphia and the other on the opposite end of the commonwealth near Pittsburgh.

The program includes didactic, laboratory and clinical components that are designed to prepare students for workplace entry as a Paraoptometric Assistant.

“This Optometric Technician Certificate program will provide students with the knowledge and skills that enable them to work in the eye-care profession,” said Dr. Elizabeth Karns, Optometry Technology Program Chair.

Dr. Karns earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from UMass Amherst in 2013 and received her Doctorate of Optometry in 2018 from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University – School of Optometry, where she graduated salutatorian.

“I am looking forward to building the first Op Tech Certificate program in the capital region,” said the Dillsburg native, who is a practicing optometrist at Mechanicsburg Eye Associates. “Our profession needs more qualified technicians, and this program will answer a real need in this area and beyond.”

For more information on the Optometric Technician Certificate Program, go to: www.centralpenn.edu/optech.