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American Board of Certification in Medical Optometry

Newsletter – ABCMO News and Updates – January 2021

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ABCMO – The Next 10 Years

Important Changes for 2021 and Beyond

In the last ten years the number of optometrists certified by ABCMO has grown steadily from just a few dozen to over 450 as of today. This has been very exciting and we want to thank all of you for helping us build an organization that represents the best, most highly trained specialists in Medical Optometry.

As we look forward to the next ten years the Board has decided to make several important changes. These changes are designed to keep the value of your ABCMO Certification as high as possible while responding to trends in both Optometry and Medicine.

1. The requirement of re-passage of the NBEO’s ACMO examination every 10 years for maintenance of certification has been discontinued. Instead, all certificate holders, regardless of the year of original certificate issuance, will be required to enroll in the following program:

2. The ABCMO Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program will require participants to fill all state required Continuing Education (CE) hours, not otherwise specified or required by their state, with COPE accredited hours in subjects relevant to medical optometry. The fee is $45/year (or $90 for biennial state renewals). Enrollment begins in January 2021 or January 2022 depending on your state license renewal date. Additional requirements along with an online signup form can be found below.

https://abcmo.org/maintenance-of-certification/

3. Verification of Certification (VOC), requested by credentialing offices can now be done online too. In order to prevent delays in verifying your certification with ABCMO make sure you sign up for the Maintenance of Certification program listed above and provide all the required information.

https://abcmo.org/verification-of-certification/

We expect the changes outlined above, in combination, best prepare us all for the next 10 years.

January 13, 2021
Filed Under: News

ABCMO News, Updates & Editorials


Email Updates

ABCMO News

  • ACMO Exam Scheduled for Thursday, June 22, 2023
  • Newsletter – ABCMO News and Updates – May 2022
  • A Reminder to VA Residents
  • Newsletter – ABCMO News and Updates – September 2021
  • Newsletter – ABCMO News and Updates – January 2021

Reflections – Articles of Interest and Editorials

  • 10 Administrators for Every Doctor
  • What is Medical Optometry?
  • A Letter to VA Optometry Residency Coordinators: Benefits of ACMO
  • Retail and Clinical Pharmacy
  • It’s Time to Rethink Board Recertification

Comments are welcome and can be sent to editor@abcmo.org for publication under the author's name.

Certification Requirements

The following are in addition to an O.D. degree from an accredited North American school or college of optometry and a current state license to practice.

Residency: Completion of a full-time, ACOE (or equivalent) accredited, postgraduate clinical residency training program having major emphasis on medical optometry.

ACMO Exam: Passage of the Advanced Competence in Medical Optometry exam (or equivalent) offered by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry.

Practice: Documented significant practice of medical optometry for a minimum of two years immediately prior to application for certification.

The Practice requirement is waived in the two years immediately following residency training.

Complete Application and Requirements

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