Licensing overkill

[harry888]

A new regulation is about to take effect in Massachusetts. To get an opticians license, the candidate must pass the contact lens exam of the ABO.

Is it just me, or does this seem overkill and foolish? To dispense glasses in Mass someone must pass the CL exam? Or do we need someone to pass the CL exam to read a CL rx and order a box of CLs? Yup, our overhead just went up compared to 1-800 contacts.

Anyone else think this is crazy to get an opticians license? This state already requires an apprenticeship, ABO, and a practical which seems most appropriate.

Any other states require the NCLE?

Harry

[wmcdonald]

Opticians do more than dispense eyeglasses. Contact Lenses have long been a part-and-parcel of our scope of practice. I am thrilled to see a state doing this. We need to upgrade, not dumb down to the lowest common denominator. Licensure in most states was predicated on the fact that we fit contact lenses, and to not include them as a part of the Opticians training is ludicrous. You will be pleased you did it later, because it will make you a more well-rounded professional.

By the way, the NCLE does contact lens certification; the ABO is strictly for spectacle dispensing......

[chip anderson]

Harrry: There is a lot more to fitting contact lenses than reading the label on a box, doctors do it that way. Opticians try to make sure that they actually fit the eye and the eye reacts favorably to it. Buck up, be an Optician!
I worked the first 20 or 22 years of my career and seldom touched a pair of spectacles, but I still had to take an maintain all that certification for eyeglasses. Of course I had to listen to a lot of boring thinly desgised sales pitches, but then I still do.
Chip

[JennyP]

TN requires:
ABOC
NCLC (whether you dispense contacts or not)
& State Practical after 2 year associate degree program or 3 year apprenticeship.
To Maintain licensure:
8 hours CEs per year in state board approved, monitored, face to face classes,
plus the initial and renewal fees.

Licensed Opticians from "before" these rules did not have to be certified but were grandfathered. These folk still have to prove the 8 hours of CE's.

[Nettie]

Costco requires both licenses whether the state you're in does or not.

[rbaker]

Isn’t that the way it goes, we complain about low standards and when someone does raise them we complain about that. Will you people make up your minds?

[Alvaro Cordova]

I think it's important as a dispenser to know as much as possible. The NCLE isn't an extremely hard exam. Also, learning about contacts really helps understand the eye better. Raising of standards is a good thing even if at first a pain.

[Nettie]

I would have taken both exams regardless. I think it's a great idea. My employees have 3 years to complete both tests. If they are serious about being opticians then they will have no problems with getting certified. If they don't like it, they probably weren't meant to be in my dept.

[Ed_Optician]

I would expect most practicioners would want stronger requirements. Requiring both ABO and NCLE is a good start. I would also like to see after 3-5 years ABO-AC/NCLE-AC be a requirement as well.
My complaint about this is that it is NOT ENOUGH A state practical akin to NY's practical would be a good start.

Ed

[Chairtime]

It all depends on your definition of optician and their scope of practice. If by definition, an optician can dispense contact lenses, then I don't think competency in that area is too much to demand.

If by definition, an optician only fits glasses, then yes it's too much.

But think of it as a physician wanting only to study delivering babies for his license. That would be a much shorter education than a full medical school.

Once again, it depends all on the opticians scope of practice.

[rbaker]

It’s not only scope of practice but the nature of the technology with a given area of practice as well. In the case of contact lenses the advent of soft lenses in the late sixties allowed far more people to dispense who would never have considered dispensing hard contact lenses in their practices. Before the advent of the soft lens CL fitting was a specialized area of practice for the three O’s. It took a lot more than just screwing a rack to the wall and two hours of training for the staff.

[Excel-Lentes]

In CT we are required to pass the NCLE's exam in addition to the other licensing requirements. If opticians are fitting contact lenses then it would be crazy to allow them to do so without proper training and testing. Actually I don't feel the NCLE's exam is sufficient proof of competency. Not due to the level of difficulty but it is not a hands-on test. I passed that test without ever touching a contact lens and did not feel confident fitting lenses to patients. Only after hands-on training and hand-on testing did I feel more comfortable with fitting contacts.

For MA I think this is a step in the right direction and I hope that they will create some form of practical exam to test for competency in contact lens fitting.

[golden]

its true in mass,,,,widespread unlicensed shops. I called around yesterday.

[golden]

anyone else call around

[Lynne]

[

But think of it as a physician wanting only to study delivering babies for his license. That would be a much shorter education than a full medical school.


.[/QUOTE]
Then she would be a midwife, who is a heck of a lot better than an obstetrician for routine births anyway!:)

[Cindy Hamlin]

its true in mass,,,,widespread unlicensed shops. I called around yesterday.

Golden, with all the time you spend on the phone checking out other shops when do you find time to help customers? It must take a lot of your time??

[hcjilson]

It all depends on your definition of optician and their scope of practice. If by definition, an optician can dispense contact lenses, then I don't think competency in that area is too much to demand.

If by definition, an optician only fits glasses, then yes it's too much.

But think of it as a physician wanting only to study delivering babies for his license. That would be a much shorter education than a full medical school.

Once again, it depends all on the opticians scope of practice.

Harry888
In the Commonweath of Massachusetts, by virtue of a supreme judicial court case (Collinson vs Commonwealth 1966), the optician's license is a license to fit contact lenses. While the statue allows it, there is no statutory requirement for competency. In an effort to tie up that loose end, the Board of Registration has ammended its rules and regulations to provide that all future applicants will have this competency.The regulations were also ammended concerning the addition of CE hours that must be NCLE approved. This was done as much to encourage grandfathered opticians to aquire this knowledge, as it was to line up with NCLE requirements.Apparently it has worked, if the agenda of the November OAM meeting is any indication. They are offering NCLE courses as well as ABO on a one for one basis.
As one of the originators of this regulation, I am very proud of it, even though many of my peers view it as unecessary and a waste of their time.While it is true that most opticians in the Commonwealth do not fit contacts, it is something they should know about, and be competent doing.

[HarryChiling]

I would be glad that your state requires the NCLE. I found the test to be harder than the ABO and though provoking. The ABO has been watered down from all I hear but the NCLE exam is still wuite difficult and does require a bit of knowledge.

[chip anderson]

Harry:

It's very watered down. It's more a test for inventory keepers than fitters now. I would rather see a test where you are given a lens or two. No automated equipment and told to identify all perimeters of the lens. As well as fitting questions and modification questions. With perhaps some actual modification of a rigid lens required on spot.
Chip

[Bill West]

Probably the same place you find time for all these post.

Golden, with all the time you spend on the phone checking out other shops when do you find time to help customers? It must take a lot of your time??

[EyeManFla]

Florida requires ABO/NCLE to be licensed. You can then be 'certified' for contact lens fitting.

[mrmac]

Most opticians do not FIT contacts they merely dispense what the OD prescribes. If we have to take additional courses just to sell boxes of accuvue the 1800 contacts should be held to the same requirement.

[hcjilson]

to find out what fitting contact lenses is all about. Methinks Chip Anderson will be happy to remind him that fitting contact lenses is a tad more than ordering a box of Accuvue's. Wether or not Mr mac wants to fit them is up to him, but SHOULD he ever want to do it, he ought to know more than he has shown in the post above this one.