4 Colo. Code Regs. § 728-1.13

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 22, November 25, 2024

Section 4 CCR 728-1.13 - LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION

This Rule is promulgated pursuant to sections 12-20-204, 12-275-108(1)(b), 12-275-110, and 12-275-112, C.R.S.

A. Colorado requires the national exam and any other area of contemporary optometry the Board believes appropriate to ensure public protection.

B. Colorado requires expanded scope of practice certification by all optometrists seeking licensure. This includes all of the following:

1. Diagnostic certification;

2. Therapeutic certification; and

3. Advanced ocular training for the treatment of glaucoma and anterior uveitis.

These certifications must be gained either through completing a course of study in a graduate degree program in optometry, or by additional educational training to meet advanced therapeutic certification standards.

C. Applicants with optometry degrees granted in 1993, or more recently, are considered to have satisfied the education requirements for expanded scope of practice certification in the course of their optometric degree programs.

D. The education for such certification shall be completed through or by an institution which is accredited by a regional or professional accreditation organization recognized or approved by the Council on Postsecondary Education or by the United States Department of Education for the Diagnostic Certification Requirements and are as follows:

1. Fifty-five classroom hours of study in general ocular and clinical pharmacology.

2. 120 hours:

a. Sixty classroom hours of study in ocular pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, therapeutics and anterior segment disease; and

b. Sixty hours of approved supervised clinical training in the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions of the human eye and its appendages.

3. Sixty hours of Board approved glaucoma and anterior uveitis education, which shall include forty-four didactic and sixteen clinical hours consisting of the treatment of glaucoma and anterior uveitis, including pharmacological, systemic and laser management of these conditions.*

4. If requirement (C)(2) is completed within the twenty-four months immediately preceding application for licensure, only an additional sixteen hours of Board-approved glaucoma and anterior uveitis education is required.

5. In addition, the applicant for licensure must have successfully completed a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation preceding the date of submitting their application for licensure.

6. The applicant must meet all other requirements of section 12-275-110, C.R.S.

E. Therapeutic Certification

1. Colorado optometrists who currently hold therapeutic certification must provide the Board with proof of the coursework as set forth in subsection (C)(3) in order to receive the advanced therapeutic certification. Successful completion of the advanced ocular treatment course offered in April of 1994 by the Colorado Optometric Association satisfies forty-four hours of the requirement; an additional sixteen hours of glaucoma and anterior uveitis course curriculum is still required to meet the requirements.

2. Colorado optometrists who do not hold therapeutic certification must meet the requirements in subsections (C)(1) and (2) above, and must provide evidence of successful completion of sixteen additional hours of glaucoma and anterior uveitis course curriculum to the Board prior to certification.

4 CCR 728-1.13

37 CR 12, June 25, 2014, effective 7/15/2014

43 CR 12, June 25, 2020, effective 7/15/2020

43 CR 23, December 10, 2020, effective 12/30/2020

44 CR 12, June 25, 2021, effective 7/15/2021

44 CR 24, December 25, 2021, effective 1/14/2022

45 CR 21, November 10, 2022, effective 10/5/2022

45 CR 22, November 25, 2022, effective 10/26/2022

45 CR 23, December 10, 2022, effective 11/11/2022

45 CR 24, December 25, 2022, effective 1/14/2023