Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Board shall grant continuing professional
optometric education credit only for courses or programs that have significant educational or practical
content which deal with matters related to the practice of optometry or with the professional
responsibilities or ethical obligations of licensees, such as the following:
1. Clinical Optometry: general optometry; contact lenses; ophthalmic lens
design; low vision; functional vision; principals of diagnosis; HIV control; infection control;
2. Ocular Disease and Management: treatment and management of ocular
disease: anterior segment; treatment and management of ocular disease: posterior segment; glaucoma;
refractive surgery management; peri-operative management of ophthalmic surgery;
3. Related Systemic Disease: ocular/systemic disease; pharmacology;
and
4. Optometric Practice Management: jurisprudence; practice
management; managed care courses or programs related to the practice of optometry, except that estate
planning, financial or investment/tax planning, personal health, the selling of ophthalmic materials, or
other similar subjects shall not be acceptable for credit.
(b) All courses or programs offered by the following sources and providers
shall be deemed to be automatically approved and a licensee may obtain all 50 continuing professional
optometric education credits from the following:
1. Post-graduate courses or
programs in the professional skills of optometric practice and scientific courses or programs, which are
accredited by the United States Department of Education or the Council on Postsecondary
Accreditation;
2. Continuing professional optometric education
courses or programs that consist of educational and scientific courses, which are approved by the Council on
Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE); or
3. A residency,
which is a one year post-OD training program at an accredited college of optometry or accredited by the
Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) of the American Optometric Association, or a fellowship,
which is a one year post-residency training program at an accredited college of optometry or accredited by
the ACOE of the American Optometric Association in a specialty area.
(c) Sponsors submitting applications for pre-approval of continuing
professional optometric education programs or courses which award three credits or less shall submit to the
Board, on a form provided by the Board, no less than 45 days prior to the date the program or course is to be
offered. Such courses or programs shall be in compliance with
13:38-7.8 and cover topics outlined at (a) above.
(d) A continuing professional optometric education program or course
pre-approved by the Board pursuant to (c) above shall only be acceptable for the biennial period in which it
was approved. In order to continue to offer a pre-approved continuing professional optometric education
program or course, the sponsor shall re-apply and receive an approval by the Board. If a pre-approved
continuing professional optometric education program or course is given in multiple locations during the then
current biennial period, the course or program shall be identical in course titles speaker and content as
that pre-approved by the Board. The sponsor shall notify the Board, in writing, of any change in course or
program venue.
(e) The Board shall grant a maximum of 20 of the
mandatory 50 continuing professional optometric education credits, including a maximum of 10 of the mandatory
30 TPA credits required, from any or all of the following:
1. Videotape,
audiotape, computer media, Internet, journal, or correspondence courses or programs. The course or program
shall include an examination at the end of the course or program. Credit for correspondence and other
individual study courses or programs will be given only in the renewal period in which the course is
completed with a successful final examination. TPA credits may be obtained from participating in any of these
courses that are primarily devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and management of ocular disease, ocular
pathology or the ocular manifestation of systemic disease;
2.
Structured grand rounds, which is a presentation, with a formal outline of course or program material, of
clinical cases involving actual patient encounters and the lecture and discussion of the diagnosis and
treatment of the particular patient condition. Non-structured grand rounds that consist of observation of
individual patient care shall not be accepted for credit. TPA credits may be obtained from participating in
structured grand rounds that are primarily devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and management of ocular
disease, ocular pathology or the ocular manifestation of systemic disease;
3. Hands-on demonstrations of instrumentation when accompanied by didactic
lectures. TPA credits may be obtained from participating in hands-on demonstrations of instrumentation that
are primarily devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and management of ocular disease, ocular pathology or the
ocular manifestation of systemic disease;
4. Interactive
workshops which include demonstrations and applications of hands-on techniques and skills in optometric
procedures and instrumentations accompanied by didactic lectures. TPA credits may be obtained from
participating in interactive workshops that are primarily devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and management
of ocular disease, ocular pathology or the ocular manifestation of systemic disease;
5. Preparation and presentation of a continuing professional optometric
education lecture. TPA credits may be obtained from preparing and presenting continuing professional
optometric education lectures that are primarily devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and management of ocular
disease, ocular pathology or the ocular manifestation of systemic disease;
6. Preparation of an educational or scientific article authored and
published in a professional refereed journal. TPA credits may be obtained from preparing an educational or
scientific article authored and published in a professional refereed journal that is primarily devoted to the
diagnosis, treatment and management of ocular disease, ocular pathology or the ocular manifestation of
systemic disease;
7. The Board shall grant a maximum of 10
continuing professional optometric education credits per biennial renewal period for optometric practice
management or managed care courses or programs relating to the practice of optometry. Continuing professional
optometric education credit shall not be granted in courses or programs taken in the following subjects:
estate planning, financial or investment/tax planning, personal health, the selling of ophthalmic materials,
or other similar subjects; or
8. The Board shall grant a maximum
of six continuing professional optometric education credits per biennial renewal period for CPR
certification.
