OAR 852-070-0010: Requirement of Continuing Optometric Education

The Oregon Board of Optometry is committed to ensuring the continuing education of its licensees for the protection, safety and wellbeing of the public. Continuing education (CE) is required to maintain and advance the professional skills and abilities of licensees and to educate optometric physicians in the application and use of new techniques, scientific and clinical advances and the achievements of research to ensure expansive and comprehensive care to the public. (1) Every active status licensed optometric physician must complete at least 18 hours of clinical optometric courses each license year as a condition of license renewal. Continuing education hours cover 12-month periods and must be reported with license renewal applications. Upon written request, the licensee may carry forward approved excess CE hours completed in the prior license year to the current license year. (2) Of the required 18 hours, at least nine hours each license year must be in the area of diagnosis, treatment and management of ocular disease (TMOD). (3) Optometric physicians must complete one hour of approved credit for an optometric ethics or Oregon law course every other license year, regardless of credits carried forward under (1) of this section. Licensees may receive one hour of optometric ethics/Oregon law credit per year for verified attendance of at least one hour at an official meeting of the Oregon Board of Optometry. One hour of law/ethics credit is granted for passing the Oregon law exam. (4) One hour of Board approved, AOA or COPE approved or Oregon Health Authority approved cultural competency continuing education may be used toward satisfying the required number of non-TMOD hours each license year. All licensees must complete at least 1 hour of cultural competency education for every other license renewal. (5) Credit will be given for no more than five hours of clinical or surgical observation per license year. Credit will be only granted for observation in the licensee’s primary practice or in any practice location affiliated with the licensee if it is completed as a scheduled activity distinct from the licensee's usual clinical or administrative work. (6) The required hours of continuing education used to meet the CE requirement each license year must be of different course content. When the Board determines that a licensee has submitted a course or lecture essentially identical to another presentation submitted for credit in the same license renewal period, credit will be given for only one. (7) Credit will be given for no more than 2 hours for each publication of a qualifying article or paper. For CE credit, the licensee must be the first or second author of the article or papre and the paper must have been published within the CE reporting period. (8) New Licensees are required to complete the Oregon Pain Management 1.5 hour training offered by the Oregon Health Authority and report at their first license renewal. Existing licensees must complete at least 1 hour of pain management education every other license renewal, regardless of credits carried forward under (1) of this section. Existing licensees may complete the Oregon Pain Management Commission's 1.5 hour training or other pain management courses approved by the Board. The Board will accept COPE approved pain courses, unless they are in categories EJ or PM. Pain management will count towards the 9 hours of TMOD credit. (9) Of the 18 required hours, licensees can report up to five hours of in-person, U.S. based CME courses per license renewal. Acceptable courses must be ACCME accredited, be in AMA PRA Category 1 and be acceptable in the TMOD category per OAR 852-070-0010(2).