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Board certification plan to be announced next year
SEATTLE – Randolph E. Brooks, OD, FAAO, urged American Optometric Association delegates here at Optometry’s Meeting to remain amenable to the process of looking at board certification for the profession, an idea that has received its fair share of criticism since the review began.
“We are looking for everyone to be open-minded,” Dr. Brooks said to the AOA House of Delegates. “It is difficult to support a process that has yet to be proposed.”
 Randolph E. Brooks |
The issue of board certification is being examined by the Joint Board Certification Project Team, which comprises six optometric associations, including AOA, the American Academy of Optometry, the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry, the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, the National Board of Examiners in Optometry and the American Optometric Student Association.
Board certification goes beyond entry level licensure and is a term that has been accepted by the public, state and federal governments and third-party payers, Dr. Brooks said.
“We are the only prescribing doctoral level health care profession that does not have a board certification process available to measure ongoing advanced clinical competency,” he said.
Dr. Brooks used the opportunity to debunk a few myths about the process.
The first myth, he said, is that the AOA is driving the process and is going to implement board certification no matter what. “This board has not decided that board certification is going to occur,” he said.
The next myth is that “The AOA will dominate and control the entire process and make a ton of money.”
“The AOA will have a seat at the table, but so will a number of other organizations, and the Joint Board Certification Project Team is not the certifying body,” Dr. Brooks said. “The fact is that AOA will not make money on this. This project team is extremely knowledgeable about the fact that the states make considerable efforts to provide high quality continuing education to their members and local societies, and that process needs to be protected.”
Another myth Dr. Brooks struck down is that the certification process will be too difficult for clinicians to accomplish unless they are subspecialty or residency trained.
“That won’t happen,” Dr. Brooks told the delegates. “We are going to have a credible process and an attainable process for you to look at.”
The Joint Board Certification Project Team, which has had seven meetings to date, plans to bring a full plan to constituents by the next Optometry’s Meeting in Washington, Dr. Brooks said.