Board Certification Passes

AOA Update--Board Certification Passes

We have had a long week at the 112th AOA convention. It was my pleasure to welcome everyone to Maryland at the opening ceremony. As you know it is the first time Maryland has been the host, and it is a beautiful facility in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

There were two amendments made to the Board Certification Model that passed--there were several that failed. The first amendment was to give OD’s 5 points for years in practice up to a maximum of 150 points to qualify for the examination. The old model allowed for 3 points up to a maximum of 75 points. The second change was that you can now get credit for fellowship in COVD just like you can for the Academy.

Consistent with our surveys from the Maryland Optometric Association membership, we (MOA) voted 18 votes against the adoption of the Board Certification Model, and 6 votes for the adoption of BC. Out of the 2013 delegate votes amongst the 50 states, the District of Columbia, AOSA, and AFOS there were 1126 votes cast in favor of Board Certification, and 887 votes cast against Board Certification.

We will send our further updates. Also, it has been wonderful seeing so many Maryland OD’s at the meeting.