The Optometrist and Dispensing Opticians Board (ODOB) is changing the continuing professional development (CPD) programme for optometrists replacing the two current CPD classes, clinical diagnostic and general, with one class known as general.

“The board has changed its CPD recertification requirements to acknowledge that every annual practising certificate (APC) holder requires exposure to current practice and knowledge via continuing education at the current standard of care which is the ‘therapeutic’ standard of care, whether a practitioner can prescribe ocular or oral medications or not, as all APC holders are required to diagnose the condition appropriately,” the board said in its newsletter.

The certification will still require 40 CPD points per cycle with independent glaucoma prescribers requiring at least two glaucoma peer review points and at least two glaucoma event points annually, collecting four peer review and four glaucoma-specific points per cycle.

The changes will come into effect on 1 November 2021.