North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 21 - OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS › Chapter 42 - OPTOMETRY › Subchapter B - LICENSE TO PRACTICE OPTOMETRY › Section .0300 - ANNUAL LICENSE RENEWAL › Section 42B .0302 - CONTINUING EDUCATION

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) Each
				  optometrist holding a certificate of registration shall take annual courses of
				  study approved by the Board as related to and essential to the practice of
				  optometry as defined in
				  G.S.
				  90-114. The Board shall approve courses whose
				  content and quality of presentation are reasonably assured to the end that the
				  licensee's abilities to meet the public demand of acceptable standards of care
				  are enhanced and that currency of knowledge is insured.
(b) Each licensee shall determine if a course
				  has been approved by the Board prior to the taking of the course and submitting
				  it for credit.
(c) No course or
				  course offering shall be considered for approval unless the vendor or sponsor
				  has submitted to the Board no later than 30 days prior to the offering of the
				  course information deemed sufficient by the Board as to the course title,
				  course format, course content and learning purpose, lecturers including
				  curriculum vitae, dates courses are offered, city and state where offered, and
				  the name, address, and telephone number of the vendor or sponsor and the
				  contact person(s) to whom inquiries can be made.
(d) Those courses that are approved,
				  including the type and number of hours of credit, shall be entered by the
				  Board's staff into the Board's central data base and the vendor or sponsor
				  notified. Information concerning those courses that have been approved shall be
				  made available to any licensee making inquiry concerning course
				  approval.
(e) The Board shall
				  maintain continuing education data on-line in its central data base for a
				  minimum period of five years preceding the next annual license renewal date. A
				  yearly listing of credits shall be furnished each licensee at the time of
				  license renewal. Additional reports shall be available on request and with
				  payment of a transcript fee of five dollars ($5.00). Telephone inquiries as to
				  current status of continuing education hours may be made during normal business
				  hours.
(f) Notification of the
				  number of hours required by the Board for license renewal shall be given to
				  each licensee at the time the licensee receives notice of annual license
				  renewal. Such notice shall state the number of hours of approved continuing
				  education required in the following year in order to renew a license for the
				  second following year. The number of required continuing education hours is 25
				  hours.
(g) In any calendar year no
				  less than 12 hours of the continuing education requirement must be in courses
				  focused on current practices and advancements in the fields of ocular and
				  general pharmacology, diagnosis and therapeutics, or advanced clinical
				  procedures, said hours to be deemed "certified" credit hours by the Board.
				  Courses certified to meet this special requirement shall be of sufficient
				  length and depth to address the subject matter in the course description(s) and
				  taught by individuals who have training and experience in the area
				  taught.
(h) Courses of self-study
				  by vendors meeting the standards and criteria set by the Council on Optometric
				  Postgraduate Education (COPE) or the Accreditation Council for Continuing
				  Medical Education (ACCME), said course(s) meant to be taken by individuals
				  through journal articles or over the internet where organized material is
				  presented and written evaluations are made prior to or after completing the
				  course(s) are eligible for approval provided the vendor or sponsor has
				  submitted the course or courses for approval as described in this Rule prior to
				  its being offered to the licensee. However, no licensee shall receive credit
				  for more than six hours of educational credit by this means in any calendar
				  year.
(i) Courses that are
				  classified as practice administration shall be accepted by the Board for credit
				  provided that no more than four hours of the total number of continuing
				  education hours required shall be accepted within one calendar year for the
				  purpose of credit for any licensee.
(j) All courses accepted for credit must be
				  taken within the calendar year for which the credit is applied; provided,
				  however, that any course dependent upon an examination for successful
				  completion may be certified to the Board following examination even if the
				  examination or the results thereof are not available until the next calendar
				  year.
(k) Attendance at any course
				  or courses approved by the Board shall be for the requisite period. The vendor
				  or sponsor of the course shall assure compliance with this requirement and
				  shall so certify to the Board no later than 30 days following the courses being
				  offered. Documentation of attendance may be transmitted:
(1) By the vendor or sponsor of the education
				  provided the documentation contains the following information:
(A) Course title and classification
				  verification;
(B) Vendor or sponsor
				  identification;
(C) Name of and
				  license number of North Carolina licensee; and
(D) Vendor or sponsor's attestation or
				  verification of attendance.