AAO 2025: Technician training platform expands education opportunities in ophthalmology

A skilled ophthalmic technician has the potential to boost a medical practice’s productivity by over 20%.^1,2 With this in mind, the American Academy of Ophthalmic Professionals (AAOP) has launched the Academy Technician Training Platform in collaboration with Alchemy Vision.² The mission of AAOP, established by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), is to support allied health professionals in eye care—including technicians, assistants, nurses, and other clinical team members—through expanded education and career development.³

The video-driven platform allows for an efficient onboarding process for new hires and overall enhanced practice efficiency, according to a platform preview on an AAOP webinar recording.^2,4 Training programs simplify the integration of new team members, foster the development of COA-certified technicians and scribes, and strengthen essential interpersonal skills to elevate patient care quality.^2,4 Instruction is provided across a range of topics—from basic competencies to advanced diagnostic procedures, and practice managers can assign learning modules and track team progress using a unified dashboard.^2,4

Inder Paul Singh, MD, president of The Eye Centers of Racine and Kenosha in Wisconsin and founding medical advisor for Alchemy Vision, spoke about his experience with the training platform in an interview with the Eye Care Network.

Q&A: Inder Paul Singh, MD, explores technician empowerment via the Academy Technician Training Platform

“The American Academy of Ophthalmic Professionals partnered with Alchemy Vision, which is a company that has really tried to focus on video-based learning that’s fun, that’s consistent for all practices,” Singh explained. Conceived during COVID-19, the platform was designed to provide accessible, video-based modules that could train even those without prior experience in eye care. “The idea came about…to create a platform that’s easy for new people who don’t have any experience with eye care at all and see if we can get them to train to a basic level of understanding,” he said.

The platform uses a tiered approach to education, beginning with fundamental skills and progressing through more advanced levels as needed. “You have a basic level, then you have a second level, third level, so we can get even more and more in depth as needed as well,” Singh said. The structure is meant to accommodate different stages of learning while ensuring every technician develops a solid baseline.

For Singh’s practice, the tool has helped resolve inconsistencies in on-the-job training. For instance, if “a tech would come in, and another tech would train that tech, and if that tech was busy, then another tech would train and everyone’s doing things differently, and it was hard to standardize things,” he noted. By introducing a shared foundation, the platform allows new technicians to start with consistent knowledge, regardless of who trains them.

Singh emphasized that this approach enhances patient care as well as efficiency. He described a case in which a technician, drawing on what they had learned, ordered an OCT for a patient with vision decline after cataract surgery. “It helps the patient, less time for the patient….and it helped me to not have to buzz [with that request] and wait for that, so I was more efficient, and the patient had a better experience.”

He also pointed to the role of education in technician engagement and job satisfaction. “When you understand the why behind everything we do, everything has meaning, and once you have meaning, then all of a sudden you have more ambition, and you have more, I think, sense of empowerment that you want to do the best job you can.”

Attendees of the AAO 2025 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, will have an opportunity to preview the technician training platform on Sunday, October 19, at 10:30 am, as part of the Academy Theater, Hall WB1, Booth 2761.²

REFERENCES

1. Lynch MG, Maa A, Delaune W, Chasan J, Cockerham GC. Eye care productivity and access in the Veterans Affairs health care system. Mil Med. 2017;182(1):e1631-e1635. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-16-00103

2. Academy Technician Training Program. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://store.aao.org/technician-training-program

3. American Academy of Ophthalmology establishes new membership group to support allied health professionals. News release. American Academy of Ophthalmology. July 5, 2023. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.aao.org/newsroom/news-releases/detail/academy-establishes-new-allied-health-group

4. Azucena F, Baugh M, Jozwiak B, Shultz M, Singh IP, Troendle T. Technician training for the modern practice. AAOP Webinar Recording. June 24, 2025. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.aao.org/clinical-teams/education/video/technician-training-modern-practice-webinar