Also called: Ocularist
Makes custom artificial eyes for people who lost an eye to injury, cancer, or a birth defect.
Takes a mold of the eye socket, shapes an acrylic eye, then hand-paints the iris, every fleck of color and tiny red vein, to match the patient's other eye. Usually learned through a 5-year apprenticeship.
Estimate; a very small profession.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Apprenticeship, about 5 years after high school. Typically a 5-year apprenticeship plus board certification (BCO).
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Studio Art, Biology.
Growing about average. Only a few hundred ocularists in the US.
Low risk for 10 years. 3D scanning may help with molds; hand-painting a lifelike iris and fitting the socket stay artisan skills.
Classes: Art or painting, Biology, Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-9082.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.