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WCO releases updated competency standards document
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The World Council of Optometry launched A Global Competency-Based Model of Scope of Practice in Optometry with the mission of providing a framework for managing the challenges of “increased practitioner mobility across borders” and promoting more standardized optometric education worldwide.
The document was initially released in 2005 but recently reviewed to reflect subsequent changes in scope of practice and “the decision of WCO to define the minimum competencies required for a person to call themselves an optometrist,” the group said in its newsletter.
The global model includes the broad competencies of dispensing, refracting, prescribing and the detection of disease/abnormality as minimum requirements, the WCO said.
The model is meant to be used in conjunction with the WCO’s publication, Why Optometry?, which highlights public health challenges and optometry’s role in primary care and education from a global perspective, the council said.
The four categories included under the scopes of practice are: optical technology services, visual function services, ocular diagnostic services and ocular therapeutic services. The following five categories are the foundation for the model: professional and clinical responsibilities, communication and patient history, the patient examination, diagnosis and management, and health information management.
“It recognizes the fact that, although the scope of practice of optometry may vary from country to country due to different regulations, today’s optometrists are educated and trained to provide the full range of services, thereby enhancing vision and protecting health,” according to the report.
The global model will help regulatory bodies assure practitioner competence when faced with the migration of optometrists across jurisdictional borders, WCO said.
The council noted that the document does not address the scope of practice of some U.S. states where minor surgical techniques and injections may be performed. This is considered as level 5 practice, and determination of competencies for this level will be considered in the future.