ophthalmic technician

medical assistant

receptionist

clinical research coordinator

technician

Austin Retina Associates

PRO:
- Great stepping stone into the medical field since they’ll hire you with no experience/degree.
- The company is career-focused; opportunity to advance quickly. 
- Pay is fair; you will be evaluated for salary increases.
- Diversity was lacking though they’ve made efforts to improve.
- Great people; inclusion is not a problem most of the time. 
- Great group of doctors; most are easy to get along with.
- Supervisors don’t micromanage, very open.

CON: 
- Clinics are VeRY busy & repetitive ((coworkers will avoid screening the 1st & last patient)).
- Lots of travel between various clinics (15+)
- FT: Often scheduled to travel between clinics 5 days a week only to end the week 30 hours.
- High turnover & burnout.
- Seniority doesn’t matter. There’s no sense of loyalty toward employees with longevity. Someone with 3mo in the company has the same opportunity to advance as someone with 3yrs.
- Excessive amount of training (pro & con). 
- There are several bad influences amongst Team Leaders; a group of immature individuals whose behavior is subtle, inappropriate, meant to intimidate others. Supervisors rely heavily on their judgment.
- Supervisors avoid conflicts & encourage you to confront anyone you have issue with.

ADVICE:
More focus on leadership/sensitivity training since there’s equal opportunity for everyone to step into leadership roles. Everyone is not equipped with the emotional intelligence required to be a leader.	

Avoid/lessen burnout amongst FT employees by dedicating 4-day work weeks. It's possible!

My job is very busy and I have never been bored.  The jobs at ARA are collaborative and teamwork oriented.  We have a big mission to save eyesight and it feels good to be part of an organization that is helping so many people.  There are lots of opportunities to achieve your career objectives if you stick around and work hard.

On our downtime there are lots of fun volunteer and family events throughout the year.  In the last year we have volunteered at Ronald McDonald house and donated Santa gifts to needy children.   Company parties include tailgating parties in the fall, family get-togethers to watch local baseball and hockey teams, numerous 5k runs, and the company Holiday party.

The management spend time working on both patient and employee satisfaction.  Leadership and teamwork are rewarded.  Managers spend time one on one with staff to make sure they have everything they need to succeed.   Most positions have on the job training.  

Our physicians are world class and save the eyesight of thousands of patients every year.  We are always looking for ways to improve the company overall.  We use LEAN to improve our patient experience.  Teams are actively encouraged to find ways to continuously improve. 

On top of all of that, our pay and benefits are better than most places.

I truly care about my coworkers.  It is like working with your family with all the ups and downs of life.

A typical day at work started at 8am. Check the patients in and out, be sure that their demographics and insurance are updated, help them when they have any questions or contact them with the people that can help them. Basically that is it. 
I am really impress about our CEO communications, for example during bad weather times, she send out messages like, do not come until 10am because the road is icy, or during the storm our managers where pending about all the employees and we were pay for the entire week of that snow storm. They prefer us safe. That means a lot for me. 
Every time I speak with my supervisor I learn something new, I really enjoy it, I like my manager even she is really busy she always support me, also when I have issues with my family, she is there.
The girls and a boy that I work with are amazing, even we are not together, means we are in different locations, we support each other, time to times we have fun through the chat LoL, like the time our supervisor share with us about a transaction that she made and was wrong but she catches it on time to fix it. Expressions from some of us to her.. like you are fired or 6 days of suspension or lunches for everyone in our team. 
The hardest part of the job is when your patients are not in a good mood and treat you bad, that is hard, but also you have the lovely ones.
I am part of this huge Saving Sight Plans, so I am happy here.  


I have worked with the Austin Retina for almost 13 years as a tech, photographer, scribe, clinical supervisor, and now process improvement analyst. ARA provides opportunities for growth and I am proof of that. I truly feel like my work is valued and appreciated not to mention the support I receive from my peers and management. Austin Retina is like my second family and I can rely on them for just about anything. The doctors at Austin Retina are like no other and I am honored I get to work beside them. I trust each and every one of them. In fact, one of the physicians performed surgery on my mom and another laser on my sister. They care and are amazing at what they do. If you want to work at a place that empowers their staff to problem solve and come up with solutions so that they can continue to improve then ARA is your home. If you want to work at a place that values their employees and more importantly values their patients then Austin Retina is your home. I am blessed I have had the opportunity to call ARA my second home for the past 13 years and I plan on retiring with this company. Come join our family at ARA. :)

Worked at Austin Retina Associates as an ophthalmic technician for about a year. Overall it was a really valuable experience, especially for anyone interested in healthcare or ophthalmology.

The doctors were knowledgeable and most of the staff were supportive and willing to teach. I learned a lot very quickly — imaging, patient workups, injections, assisting with procedures, and handling high patient volume. It’s definitely the kind of place where you become more confident and efficient fast because the clinic stays busy all day.

The biggest challenge was the pace. Some days felt nonstop from the moment you clocked in, and patients could get frustrated with wait times because the schedule was packed. It could also feel stressful when short-staffed since technicians handled a lot at once. Attention to detail is extremely important, so there’s a learning curve at first.

That said, it was rewarding working with patients who were genuinely grateful for their care, and the experience looked great on a healthcare résumé.

Overall: great clinical experience and strong learning environment, but be prepared for a fast-paced specialty clinic setting with high expectations.

I've worked for a few ophthalmic practices and Austin Retina is by far my favorite place I've worked at. If you put in the hard work, you will grow and learn so much here. The physicians here are amazing beyond words can describe and every single one of them is so caring. The supervisors here are all open to feed back, suggestions, or if you just need someone to talk/vent to, they will always lend you their ears no matter how busy they are. Every single clinic is run with the upmost efficiency because Austin Retina raises great leaders. There is no micro-management here so you develop some great problem solving skills on you own with your own teammates. They truly value their employees here, and more importantly, value every single one of their many patients they see. There are definitely tougher days than others, but when you get to work side by side everyday with your incredible team and physician, even the tough days don't seem so bad. I feel so lucky to be able to call ARA my forever work family and home. 

Despite having busy work days, the satisfaction of being a part of helping people save their sight is rewarding. We visit satellite clinics to take care of patients who cannot travel to Central Austin, and on these days, the physicians provide lunch for the crew which is super nice! Everyday we learn something new, whether its' medicine related or billing/insurance related, in the end it all ties in together for the benefit of our patient's care. My co-workers have become family; we can joke around and still get through a hectic but busy day all while having fun. Everyday, I wake up and look forward to coming in to work; my supervisor and co-workers make my days a lot better and for that I'm grateful. Our patients make this job worth it, they greet us with a smile (the masks don't stop us from being kind to one another) and sometimes sing to us, too! There's so many ways to grow within the company, don't hesitate to apply, you could be blocking a major blessing :) 

I do not recommend working here at all. The work culture in the back end is disgraceful, all the insurance verification girls and appointment schedulers are catty, clicquey, and will stab you in the back if they decide they don’t like you. There is no training and then you get in trouble if you make mistakes, even as a new hire. I heard multiple discrimatory remarks made and even threats against other coworkers and when it was reported to the management anonymously for safety they immediately threw me under the bus to the party. Sexual and racial harassment was pretty rampant when I was there and they were in no hurry to change that, very low class employees behind the scenes. The doctors and front office staffed seemed nice, but they were so far removed from the inappropriateness of the clinic.

Due to my availability, I could not join one of the teams so I frequently traveled to satellites. This meant early mornings to make it in time for the start of clinic, however, it wasn't so bad because we got lunch paid for and some of the doctors are kind enough to buy us coffee. Work was always fun due to my coworkers, however, some days can be stressful due to the patient load. The management was very helpful by checking in on every employee to keep up with their lives and the company reviews the employees to make sure everyone maintains the knowledge we were taught initially. I learned a lot of new things about the conditions that we treated due to the supportive doctors and staff since they readily answered any questions. Austin Retina was a great place to work!

I've seen time and gain people get the opportunity to grow their careers. I've seen the physicians support doing the right thing for the team members in the company. Larger employers can offer more perks and benefits, but the benefits at Austin Retina are way better than other companies its size and red tape is minimal. It tends to be above average in the work pace and volume. If you want an opportunity and you are deserving, then you will eventually get your chance to grow. It's a total meritocracy where leadership will assume the best about you and give you a chance to run with an idea. Pay while out for snowpocalypse? Yes. Community service? Yes. Almost all supervisors promoted from within? Yes. Annual raises? Yes. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Ophthalmic technician 5 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour
Medical assistant 1 salary reported	$19.50 per hour
Receptionist 6 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Clinical research coordinator 5 salaries reported	$28.28 per hour
Technician 4 salaries reported	$18.75 per hour

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