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Thread: California a licensed optician state??

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    California a licensed optician state??

    Ive been out of the industry since 2010 and plan on getting back in soon. I read some places that CA is a licensed optician state? Is this true? I know before it wasnt I just had and still have my ABO and NCLE certifications. Please help with an answer thanks, Eric

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    Redhot Jumper Optician Training and Certification in California .................................

    Quote Originally Posted by ew0422 View Post

    Ive been out of the industry since 2010 and plan on getting back in soon. I read some places that CA is a licensed optician state? Is this true? I know before it wasnt I just had and still have my ABO and NCLE certifications. Please help with an answer thanks, Eric


    Optician Training and Certification in California

    California is one of only twenty-three states that require optician licensing. Rules and regulations regarding optician training requirements, licensing, and certification are set by the The Medical Board of California. The following information will be applicable to you if you are wanting to be licensed as an optician in the state of California. Before the Medical Board of California can issue a license, a criminal record clearance must be received from both the state Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    Licensing:

    The state of California differentiates between Spectacle Lens Dispensers & Contact Lens Dispensers when it comes to licensure. If you are wishing to perform tasks associated with both spectacle lenses and contact lenses, then you will need to be licensed for both.

    No individual may fit and adjust spectacle lenses unless the registration requirement of the State of California is complied with, and unless the individual is a duly registered spectacle lens dispenser or the individual performs the fitting and adjusting under the direct responsibility and supervision of a duly registered spectacle lens dispenser.
    A “duly registered spectacle/contact lens dispenser” generally includes a licensed optician, optometrist, or ophthalmologist. Individuals who perform dispensing activities under the supervision of a qualified professional are encouraged to verify compliance with state law before accepting a supervised position.


    See all of it:
    https://www.opticiantraining.org/opt...ing-california

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    I was under the impression that Optician's licensure in Ca was now under the OD Board. Is that not the case? I believe that changed from the Medical Board a few years ago. Please correct me if I am wrong.

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    OK so I went to the link and it says exam requirements ABO and NCLE so Im still confused..

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    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    That's all several "licensed" states require.

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    It is under the OD board I just dont understand what the requirements are , is there an exam, or just an application and fee? Guess Ill have to call and find out. Any CA opticians out there please help, thanks

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    thank you thats what im thinking too

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    The state uses the ABO/NCLE as the licensing exam. They ARE examinations done online. What is not clear. Pass those two, send in the application and it is done.

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    Master Jedi King of the Lab's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    The state uses the ABO/NCLE as the licensing exam. They ARE examinations done online. What is not clear. Pass those two, send in the application and it is done.
    False, the ABO in California is an exam that you have to register for months ahead of time and is given twice a year at different testing facilities in SoCal. Show up to the testing facility where you will take a 150 question multiple choice exam while being monitored by the testing staff. Registration is $325, and if you fail, you will have to pay again.
    Erik Zuniga, ABOC.

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    Redhot Jumper Effective January 1, 2017..................................

    CHAPTER 5.5. Registered Dispensing Opticians [2550 - 2569]


    Chapter 5.5 added by Stats. 1939 CH 955



    Individuals, corporations, and firms engaged in the business of filling prescriptions of physicians and surgeons licensed by the Medical Board of California or optometrists licensed by the State Board of Optometry for prescription lenses and kindred products, and, as incidental to the filling of those prescriptions, doing any or all of the following acts, either singly or in combination with others, taking facial measurements, fitting and adjusting those lenses and fitting and adjusting spectacle frames, shall be known as dispensing opticians and shall not engage in that business unless registered with the State Board of Optometry.

    (Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 489, Sec. 13. (SB 1478) Effective January 1, 2017.)

  12. #12
    Master Jedi King of the Lab's Avatar
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    RDO's are for dispensing businesses w/o Doctors, they are required to have at least one RDO per store.
    Erik Zuniga, ABOC.

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    Quote Originally Posted by King of the Lab View Post
    RDO's are for dispensing businesses w/o Doctors, they are required to have at least one RDO per store.
    correct, they aren't even supposed to call themselves R.D.O. if the work for an OD or OMD, but they do!

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    Quote Originally Posted by King of the Lab View Post
    False, the ABO in California is an exam that you have to register for months ahead of time and is given twice a year at different testing facilities in SoCal. Show up to the testing facility where you will take a 150 question multiple choice exam while being monitored by the testing staff. Registration is $325, and if you fail, you will have to pay again.
    Sorry, but the ABO is an acronym for American Board of Opticianry. Their NATIONAL Opticianry Competency Exam (NCOE) is now used by many states as the licensing exam, including California. Testing centers are done across the country, not just your state. Of course you have to register, and of course you have to pay the fee. Once you pass you apply to the board there and receive your license.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    Sorry, but the ABO is an acronym for American Board of Opticianry. Their NATIONAL Opticianry Competency Exam (NCOE) is now used by many states as the licensing exam, including California. Testing centers are done across the country, not just your state. Of course you have to register, and of course you have to pay the fee. Once you pass you apply to the board there and receive your license.
    I think he was talking about your saying the test was done online being false.

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    That is not false. The ABO/NCLE is now completely online at testing centers across the nation. That has been widely publicized and a controversial topic, so I assumed a was well known.

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    My Brain Hurts jpways's Avatar
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    I have one point that I'm confused about reading this thread. The tests we're talking about are they ABO/NOCE basic certification exams or are they the practical exams that they came out with not too long ago (or both if you are not already ABOC/NCLE-Basic (I can't remember what the proper letters are for NCLE right now))?

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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    That is not false. The ABO/NCLE is now completely online at testing centers across the nation. That has been widely publicized and a controversial topic, so I assumed a was well known.
    Oh I knew the tests were computerized now, but when the term "online test" is used it has the connotation of a test you can log into any browser and take. In reality it is just a test that is administered in the same way as before, at a regulated testing center only on a computer with a test stored on a cloud server instead of book with paper and pencil. I was confused by your statement and I think King probably was also.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jpways View Post
    I have one point that I'm confused about reading this thread. The tests we're talking about are they ABO/NOCE basic certification exams or are they the practical exams that they came out with not too long ago (or both if you are not already ABOC/NCLE-Basic (I can't remember what the proper letters are for NCLE right now))?
    38 years ago when I took my test, NCLE stood for National Contact Lens Examiners (that is what is on my certificate) & ABO was American Board of Opticianry.
    Seems NCLE exam has adopted/morphed into several different names and acronym's over the years but ABO remains the same.

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    My Brain Hurts jpways's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CCGREEN View Post
    38 years ago when I took my test, NCLE stood for National Contact Lens Examiners (that is what is on my certificate) & ABO was American Board of Opticianry.
    Seems NCLE exam has adopted/morphed into several different names and acronym's over the years but ABO remains the same.
    I understand that both track (ABO, NCLE) have multiple tests
    Certification: Basic, Advanced (Both)
    Then both track have processes to get a Master Certification (not a test)
    But both tracks also have a practical exam (ABOP for spectacle lenses, NCLEP for contact lens fitters:
    http://abo-ncle.org/ABO/Exam_Informa...c-1c8a7aed6529)
    And you have to have passed the proper basic Certification test for that track in order to take the practical test for that track (so ABOC->ABOP, and NCLEC (or whatever the proper designation is) ->NCLEP).

    What my question is, in these discussions on how to be licensed in CA, the test that are being referred, do you have to have a current ABOC to be a licensed spectacle lens dispenser in CA, take the ABO basic certification test over again, or do you also have to pass the ABOP (and NCLEC vs. NCLEP to be a non-Doctor contact lens dispenser)?
    Last edited by jpways; 02-28-2018 at 11:09 AM.

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    Master OptiBoarder CCGREEN's Avatar
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    I am licensed in Florida and know nothing about California requirements.

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    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    Those "practical" tests look rather silly if the samples given on the ABO site are anything to go by! That's just a rehash of the same questions they've always had on the basic exam, but with basic computer simulation instead of drawings. Now they get to charge to test for the same sort of questions twice? With all the millions and millions of $$$ the ABO is sitting on, to say nothing of their ever increasing examination fees, they couldn't afford to put together *proper* practical tests, in person?


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    Master Jedi King of the Lab's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jpways View Post
    What my question is, in these discussions on how to be licensed in CA, the test that are being referred, do you have to have a current ABOC to be a licensed spectacle lens dispenser in CA, take the ABO basic certification test over again, or do you also have to pass the ABOP (and NCLEC vs. NCLEP to be a non-Doctor contact lens dispenser)?
    Yes, you do have to be already ABO certified in order to be a spectacle lens dispenser in CA. That is all.

    http://www.optometry.ca.gov/applicants/rdo_faq.shtml

    This is not an online do it at home test (I was confused by your statement Donald), it's given twice a year at a testing facility. I just took mine again, in Feb 2017. Information can be found below.

    https://www.abo-ncle.org/ABO/Exam_Information/Upcoming_Exams/ABO/BasicCert/BasicExamTestPage.aspx?hkey=698c2356-ce24-43f6-9327-788b4ce7acd6

    Last edited by King of the Lab; 02-28-2018 at 01:12 PM.
    Erik Zuniga, ABOC.

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