How to become an Ophthalmologist: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 20% Doctoral Degree
- 14% Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
- 14% First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.
- 10% Post-Secondary Certificate
Not shown: answers with low-precision O*NET estimates, so these shares do not add to 100%.
BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric” in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). O*NET's survey estimates of required education for workers in the BLS occupation “Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric” are too imprecise to name a most common level. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 5 of 5 (extensive preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 4 years, up to and including 6 years” (30%), and for on-the-job training “over 1 year, up to and including 2 years” (36%).
Data Government data groups this job as Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric (O*NET-SOC 29-1241.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
What BLS lists for workers in the BLS occupation “Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric”
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, workers in the BLS occupation “Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric” in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, workers in the BLS occupation “Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric” in the United States typically need an internship or residency to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming an Ophthalmologist
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationCheck the education employers ask for
O*NET's survey estimates for this job are too imprecise to name a most common level.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 1 year, up to and including 2 years.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (30% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Active Listening are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Epic Systems, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Microsoft Excel.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 5 (Extensive Preparation Needed): Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $300,080; the lowest-paid quarter earn $173,650 or less. See the full Ophthalmologist salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
BLS typical entry-level education: a doctoral or professional degree
Not shown: answers with low-precision O*NET estimates, so these shares do not add to 100%.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
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