WCO launches Competency Framework for Optometry
The World Council of Optometry has announced the launch of its Competency Framework for Optometry, a resource designed to define essential skills, knowledge and abilities for the profession and streamline optometric education worldwide.
According to a WCO press release, the framework addresses the need for a unified global standard and provides a comprehensive guide for developing core curricula for optometry programs around the world. The framework domains, which align with the WHO Eye Care Competencies Framework, are refractive error, visual function assessment, ocular health and diseases, public health and professional practice.
“Recent vitally important global reports such as the World Report on Vision and U.N. General Assembly resolutions have outlined the challenges facing eye care, the impact of vision impairment on the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the inclusion of addressing refractive error correction within universal health coverage,” Yazan Gammoh, PhD, MSc, WCO’s education committee chairman, said in the release. “This urged WCO to revise its competency model to better prepare optometrists to meet the eye care needs of their communities.”
“As the profession advances and health care needs and technology progress, it is critical that optometric education evolve,” Steven T. Reed, OD, president-elect of the American Optometric Association, told Healio. “This framework is an important step towards a consistent framework for the profession in developing parts of the world.”
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