33109 Other assisting occupations in support of health services

What this occupation covers

Other assisting workers in support of health services provide services and assistance to health care professionals and other health care staff. They are employed in hospitals, medical clinics, offices of health care professionals, nursing homes, optical retail stores and laboratories, and medical pathology laboratories.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 35 main duties for this code.

• Under the supervision of audiologists, administer tests such as pure tone hearing screening, impedance tests and noise level measurements using equipment such as audiometers and sound level meters to determine hearing thresholds of patients
• Instruct patients on test procedures and record results
• Monitor, check and calibrate auditory equipment
• May take earmold impressions and fit and adjust hearing instruments.
• Assist orthopedic surgeons in the treatment of orthopedic diseases and injuries by applying and adjusting casts, splints, bandages and other orthopedic devices
• Assist in the application, maintenance and adjustment of traction equipment
• Clean and dress wounds
• Remove casts, sutures, staples and pins
• Instruct patients and their families and other health care professionals with respect to orthopedic matters.
• Prepare and maintain equipment and supplies
• Assist in activities for the rehabilitation of patients as directed by health care professionals
• May perform routine office functions.
• Take patients' general medical and ophthalmic history
• Operate ophthalmic testing and measuring instruments to aid ophthalmologists in assessing patients' vision
• Instruct patient on diagnostic test and record results
• Assist ophthalmologists in minor office surgery
• Administer eye drops, ointments and medications as directed by ophthalmologists
• Clean and maintain ophthalmic instruments and equipment
• Perform various administrative duties.
• Operate laboratory equipment to grind, cut, polish and edge lenses for eyeglasses according to prescriptions received and fit lenses into frames
• Make minor repairs for customers such as replacing frame screws or straightening frames
• Maintain and repair optical laboratory equipment or machinery.
• Operate and maintain sterilization equipment such as instrument washers, sonic sinks, cart washers and steam autoclaves to clean and disinfect trays, carts, linens, supplies, instrumentation and equipment for re-use according to standardized safety practices
• Reassemble equipment and assemble packs of sterile supplies and instruments for delivery to hospital departments.
• Set up and dismantle equipment
• Prepare and maintain cleanliness of collection areas
• Maintain supplies
• Monitor donors throughout procedure and assist with post-donation care and donor reaction care as assigned under the supervision of a registered nurse
• Record information on donors
• Label and process donated blood.
• Assist pathologists at autopsies by laying out surgical instruments
• Prepare solutions for preservation of specimens
• Transfer bodies from morgue to examining table
• Remove organs and tissue specimens, as instructed by attending pathologist, and placing them in preservative solutions
• Clean and sew up bodies for release to funeral home.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 6 of its 35 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 33101 Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations
• 32101 Licensed practical nurses
• 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
• 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals

Excluded from this code

• Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations (See 33101 Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations)
• Medical technologists and technicians (See 3212 Medical technologists and technicians)
• Operating room technician (See 32101 Licensed practical nurses)
• Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment (See 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment)
• Pathologists' assistant (See 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

activationist - health support services · activities coordinator - health support services · activity aide - health support services · activity leader - seniors · activity worker - health support services · acupuncture assistant · acupuncture attendant · adjuvant · audiometric aide · audiometric assistant · audiometric technician · autopsy assistant · autopsy attendant · autopsy technician · blood donor clinic assistant · blood donor clinic attendant · blood donor clinic helper · blood sampling attendant · cast room technician · central service room worker - hospital · central supply aide · central supply aide - medical · central supply room supervisor - hospital · central supply room technician - hospital

Employment requirements

• Audiometric technicians usually require a specialization in industrial audiometry testing.
• Orthopedic technologists usually require completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training or a college orthopedic technologist program.
• Registration with the Canadian Society of Orthopaedic Technologists is available and may be required by employers.
• Ophthalmic assistants require completion of a six to twelve month ophthalmic assistants college program or a minimum of one year of on-the-job training under the supervision of an ophthalmologist, and completion of an approved ophthalmic assistant home study program.
• Certification by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology may be required by employers.
• Health care courses or short-term college programs related to the work of medical therapy aides, such as recreational therapy programs, are available and may be required by employers.
• Sterile processing technicians require completion of secondary school and a six- to nine-month sterile processing college program.
• Completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training are usually required for other assisting occupations in this unit group.