Continuing Education Guidelines for Optometrists (taken directly from the website www.mass.gov)

Board regulations require that an optometrist must complete 18 hours of Board-approved continuing education as a condition of annual license renewal. Credit toward renewal of an Optometrist's License in a particular renewal period shall be given only for Continuing Education Hours which were completed during the 12 months immediately preceding January 1st of the licensure year for which renewal of that License is sought.

For a continuing education program to be acceptable for the purposes of license renewal, the following conditions apply:

"Live" continuing education (CE) programs offered outside of Massachusetts must be approved by the Council on Optometric Continuing Education (C.O.P.E.)
"Live" CE programs offered within Massachusetts and that exceed four (4) hours must be C.O.P.E. approved
"Live" CE courses or programs that are four (4) hours or less, and that are not C.O.P.E. approved may be submitted to the Board for approval (To view approved courses, see the On-Line Lookup System: Continuing Education Courses Approved for (CE) credit in Massachusetts)
1. A written application for Board approval must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the course date
2. The application must include the name of the sponsor; a detailed outline of the course material; the speaker's curriculum vitae; the course time and location; provisions for adequate monitoring of attendance; and satisfactory assurances that the course is generally available to all optometrists
No more than four (4) CE hours for the purposes of license renewal may be taken via distance learning technology
Approved CE courses are listed on the C.O.P.E. web site
To review the Board’s rules and regulations please visit the Statutes and Regulations section of this site.

Submitting Courses:

To submit a course for Massachusetts State CE qualification please complete the following application and include the required information. All applications must be received two weeks prior to the scheduled event.

Massachusetts State CE Application

Special Populations Grand Rounds

Please join us for the Special Populations Grand Rounds Wednesdays from 7:00-8:15am in Conference Room 1, Beacon Street Campus.

These are student presented, faculty guided cases encountered during the Special Populations Rotation.

Schedule:

To be given at a later date.

CE Offered through the VA Boston Healthcare System

The VA Boston Healthcare System in conjunction with the New England College of Optometry announces the following for Massachusetts Optometric CE Credit (NOT COPE):

The Boston VA Healthcare System, in conjunction with The New England College of Optometry presents:

None at this time

This is a free session. Please contact Kevin Toolin at kevin.toolin@va.gov, if you plan on attending.

Matty in the Morning:

Monday, September 8 at 7:15 a.m. on the College campus at 424 Beacon Street, Boston in the Clausen Room.

1 hour CE credit will be given and light refreshments will be served.

Title: Latest Treatment for Dry AMD with Case Examples

Lecturer: Stuart Richer, O.D., D. Ph

We encourage everyone to attend this 1 hour approved CE event. This topic in the past has been an overwhelming success

Please RSVP to wilsont@neco.edu or telephone (617) 587-5642 if you plan to attend.

Research Lecture Series:

Under this program, recognized vision scientists are invited to the College to give presentations about their research. These presentations are followed by discussion sessions and informal receptions so the College community has an opportunity to become better acquainted with researchers and their projects in other laboratories. All presentations will start at 5pm at The New England College of Optometry.

The New England College of Optometry 2008 Research Lecture Series Presents:

October 2, 2008 at 5:15 pm in Lecture Hall 3

Mina Sehizadeh, MS, ASIP OD candidate

New England College of Optometry

“Monocular Adaptation of Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR)”

Abstract:

M. Sehizadeh₁, E. L. Irving_1,2

¹ School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Ontario, N2L3G1.

² Vision Science Research Program, Toronto Western Hospital, Ontario, Canada.

This study asks whether active horizontal angular Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR) gain is capable of monocular adaptation after 4 hours of wearing 10 dioptres (D) of induced anisometropia in healthy human adults. The participants wore a contact lenses/spectacles combination for 4 hours. The power of the spectacle was +5.00D (magnified images 8.65%) in front of the right eye and –5.00D (minified images 5.48%) for the left eye, while the power of the contact lenses was equal to the subjects’ habitual correction, summed with the opposite power of the spectacle lens. The VOR gain was compared between the right eye and left eyes for trials before and after adaptation. In the first post-adaptation trial, a significant decrease in VOR gain (≈ 6%) occurred in the left eye in response to the miniaturizing lens, while the right eye VOR gain did not show a significant change (≈2% decrease). During a 2 hour follow-up time, both eyes showed a significant decrease compared to the baseline trial. Thus, there was monocular adaptation of VOR in response to the combined contact lenses/spectacles, but it was not complete and not the expected pattern. The results might indicate habituation of the VOR.

One Hour of MA Continuing Education credits will be given. The lecture will be followed by a wine and cheese reception in the Clausen Room of 424 Beacon Street on the 1^st floor. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Nancy Coletta at colettan@neco.edu.

Any continuing education questions please contact Tracy Kelley at kelleyt@neco.edu