The National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) has announced that a new optometric board certification program is now available.

NBEO-Board Certification Inc. is a private, nonprofit partner organization of NBEO that “recognizes and promotes professional lifelong learning to practicing optometrists through the joint Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification programs, thereby encouraging and supporting excellent optometric care for the general health, welfare, and benefit of the public,” according to its website.

NBEO Board Certification “is used to recognize those optometrists who go beyond the entry-level requirements,” the organization says. These basic requirements are the NBEO exams parts I, II, III and the TMOD exams. To qualify for board certification, applicants must:
• Have a specified amount of experience in active practice or in a residency.
• Agree to take the CPDO exam after applying.
• Participate in the NBEO-BC Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

The MOC program requires participants to complete 50 COPE-accredited hours of CE (including 10 hours of self-assessment modules) as well as two “performance in practice modules” every two years. The costs of NBEO-Board Certification include an initial application fee of $150, the CPDO exam fee of $500 and an ongoing MOC fee of $150 every two years.