Continuing Education Points

The Program Committee and WCO are working to ensure the program will be accredited based on what region you are attending from. Once the program is finalised we will be able to provide further details on accreditation. Please carefully read the below information to ensure that you have correctly and accurately followed the instructions relevant to you.

The certifications will include CPD (Australia and Europe) and COPE (North America). Please ensure you review the program to ensure you attend accredited sessions for your region.

CPD (Australia & UK)

CPD requirements for optometrists

The OBA made the decision to change the CPD requirements in order to bring optometry into alignment with other regulated health professions, the majority of which have annual, time-based, CPD requirements.

The registration period and its associated CPD cycle runs from 1 December to 30 November.

To retain registration as an optometrist, the following requirements apply:

  • You must complete a minimum of 20 hours of CPD activities within each registration period (that is: from 1 December to 30 November).

  • If you are therapeutically endorsed, you will be required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of CPD within each registration period, with at least 10 of those hours relating to a scheduled medicines endorsement.

  • A minimum of 5 hours of the CPD completed must be interactive (see below).

  • A maximum of 5 hours of non-clinical/non-scientific content can contribute to your annual total.

  • You must develop and maintain a CPD portfolio (inclusive of a Learning Plan), which identifies your professional learning needs and the CPD activities undertaken to address them. The CPD portfolio will include a reflection on each CPD activity, outlining what has been learned and how it relates to your professional learning needs.

  • You must keep evidence of all CPD activities undertaken and completed for a period of five (5) years.

  • You must complete cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training every three (3) years.

 

Learning Plan (CPD portfolio) for members of each State and Territory of Optometry Australia

Your CPD portfolio features a Learning Plan which includes:

  1. learning needs

  2. planned activities (with description, date and time taken to complete activities)

  3. reflection/evaluation

Prior to undertaking CPD activities, you should identify and plan your own learning goals and the type of CPD activities to undertake in order to meet these goals.

To set up your CPD Learning Plan:

  1. Go to www.optometry.org.au

  2. Login to the Member Portal using your member number and password.

  3. Navigate to My CPD record and then My CPD plan and complete the steps to set up your learning plan. This page includes a short six-minute video that takes you through the steps required to complete your plan. You can pause the video while completing a step in your plan, then continue watching.

Have trouble with your learning plan? Contact us at the OV/SA office at office.vicsa@optometry.org.au or 03 9652 9100.

CPD (UK)

Please note that the Europe (UK) have transitioned from CET to CPD points.

CPD (UK) is points-based and runs over a three-year cycle, with the current cycle running from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024. Read our guide for registrations.

For more information, contact us at goc@optical.org or view the below link.

Council of Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE)

The Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) is a nationally recognized accreditation program for optometric continuing education (CE) courses for practitioners in the United States and Canada. It was developed to assist ARBO's member boards in the accreditation of optometric CE necessary for license renewal. Click here for CE requirements by state/province.