SECO2010 - Education

OD Education

Continuing Education Accreditation Information

SECO encourages attendees to read course descriptions thoroughly and choose the education that best meets their professional needs. SECO also recommends that attendees be familiar with licensing requirements for any licenses that they possess.

Course Admission

SECO distributes to attendees admission tickets to gain entrance to each course selected. At the conclusion of each course attendees exchange with door monitors the admission ticket for a Verification of Attendance voucher, which is a physical receipt of attendance for the course.

All continuing education courses are strictly monitored to comply with licensing board regulations for accreditation and within The Optometric Guidelines for Independent Continuing Education. Attendees who fail to comply with attendance requirements during a course will not receive continuing education credit for that course.

Attendance requirements include:

An attendee must present a SECO Passport name badge and an admission ticket to the door monitor to gain entrance to the course.
Once the course begins, an attendee may not be absent from the course for a cumulative time in excess of 10 minutes.
Upon exiting the course at its conclusion, the door monitor will exchange with an attendee the course ticket for an attendance verification voucher.

As a courtesy to fellow attendees, children are not permitted to attend education events. Please click here for information on available childcare services.

PLEASE NOTE: Courses submitted for approval are indicated in both descriptions and Day-At-A-Glance spreadsheets. If accreditation for a course or workshop is not known at press time, SECO will indicate this in the course description. Where SECO has submitted materials for review but accreditation was not confirmed before this brochure was printed, courses are annotated "submitted." Please read the course descriptions carefully to be certain of those that are approved and those that are pending.

Reporting Attendance

SECO International reports continuing education attendance approximately 30 days post-event. SECO reports to licensing organizations continuing education attendance for attendees who provide their license information exactly as it appears on their license. SECO recommends attendees personally verify the accuracy of their continuing education attendance upon receiving from SECO International a verification of attendance summary letter. Not all licensing boards or accrediting agencies store continuing education attendance records for licensed professionals; therefore, SECO recommends that attendees keep attendance verification vouchers for three years. SECO encourages attendees to be familiar with the continuing education attendance reporting requirements of any professional licenses that they possess.

State Licensing Boards of Optometry

For attendees who provide their license information, SECO International will report continuing education attendance to the state licensing optometry boards of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Additionally, SECO International will report continuing education attendance to any state licensing optometry board upon request.

ARBO Optometric Education Tracker Identification

For attendees who provide their ARBO OE Tracker number, SECO will report continuing education attendance to ARBO. Attendees who do not know their OE Tracker number, or wish to learn more about the OE Tracker number, ay visit www.arbo.org or call ARBO at (704) 970-2710. Email ARBO at arbo@arbo.org.

PLEASE NOTE: ARBO no longer accepts attendance records that are not associated with a valid OE Tracker number; attendees who wish to report attendance to ARBO MUST provide to SECO their OE Tracker number when they register to attend SECO 2010. SECO will not submit attendance information to ARBO without a valid OE Tracker number. Attendees may visit www.arbo.org for more information.

Reporting to North Carolina
The North Carolina board of Optometry requires all optometrists holding licenses in North Carolina to submit to the board their SECO attendance information.

§ 90 123.1. Continuing education courses required. All registered optometrists now or hereafter licensed in the State of North Carolina are and shall be required to take annual courses of study in subjects relating to the practice of the profession of optometry to the end that the utilization and application of new techniques, scientific and clinical advances, and the achievements of research will assure expansive and comprehensive care to the public. The length of study shall be prescribed by the Board but shall not exceed 25 hours in any calendar year. Attendance must be at a course or courses approved by the Board. Attendance at any course or courses of study are to be certified to the Board upon a form approved by the Board and shall be submitted by each registered optometrist at the time he makes application to the Board for the renewal of his license and payment of his renewal fee.

CE Broker

For Florida-licensed professionals who provide their license information exactly as it appears on their license (beginning with OP or OPC for optometrists and DO for opticians), SECO will report continuing education attendance to CE Broker. SECO will not submit attendance information to CE Broker without a valid Florida license number. SECO International's CE Provider number for CE Broker is 50-1731. Attendees may visit www.cebroker.com for more information.

Certifying Agents

SECO makes every effort to secure accreditation for education courses/workshops as appropriate through ABO, AOA, COPE, JCAHPO, and NCLE. SECO International does not guarantee that a licensing board or certifying organization will accept any course presented during SECO 2010. SECO encourages attendees to review and understand the requirements for any licensing agencies to which education attendance may be reported.

Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE)

COPE provides national accreditation for optometric continuing education. Ph. (704) 970-2710; www.arbo.org.

American Optometric Association (AOA)

The AOA certifies Paraoptometrics; professionals working under the direct supervision of a licensed optometrist. For information on the AOA computer-based certification examinations, contact the AOA at Ph. (800) 365-2219; www.aoa.org
To download a FREE copy of the Certified Paraoptometric Handbooks, visit http://www.aoa.org/x4988.xml

CEE: Continuing Education with Examination

"CEE" is the acronym for Continuing Education with Examination, nomenclature devised and adopted by COPE to more accurately describe education that is accompanied by a post-course testing instrument. The term Transcript Quality (TQ) is no longer recognized by COPE and has been replaced by "CEE." State licensing boards that require some CE credits with post-course testing are beginning to modify their regulations to refer to this term.

Courses offering CEE are noted in the registration brochure as CEE. The University of Alabama Birmingham-School of Optometry (UAB) will distribute and administer the CEE exams. Test request forms are available at the OD Course Information Booth located at the Welcome Center on Level 4 of the Georgia World Congress Center near the exit to the Omni Hotel. Please check the box on the forms for each test you want to receive.

Following your final CEE course, return the completed form to the OD Course Information Booth. There will be a box labeled CEE FORM BOX. This is the only authorized drop-off point for your CEE test request form.

You also may mail your CEE test request form to UAB at the address below. UAB will send the tests with instructions immediately after the meeting to the address you provide on your form. Tests are $25 each, due with the completed tests you return to UAB. All test fees may be included on one check, payable to UABSO-CE.

Mail completed tests and check to:

Indiana OLDPAC

As of July 2006, Indiana OLDPAC no longer exists. Indiana Board of Optometry accepts COPE courses from the following categories:

Ocular pharmacology - PH
Ocular therapeutics in the areas of
- Anterior segment - AS
- Systemic and ocular disease - SD
- Posterior segment - PS
- Glaucoma - GL
- Post-operative care - PO

Course Lists

SECO International publishes education approval information in the registration brochure and also online as SECO receives updates from accreditation agencies. Go to OD Course List to view available OD approval lists.

Access to courses for AOPs

Attendees must register for either the OD or AOP program to access the respective courses for each. However, a select few courses are available to both categories of attendees, including:

Course 767: Custom Lens Designs - Best for the Patient and the Practice
Irwin Shwom, OD, RDO
Saturday, February 13, 10:30 - 11:30 AM

Transcripts

SECO no longer provides transcripts of education for optometrists. Approximately 60 days post event, attendees will receive a "verification of attendance" letter noting the courses taken at SECO 2010. If you no longer have your receipts from your attendance, you must log-on at OE Tracker (the national CE databank run by ARBO; visit www.arbo.org for more information) or www.CEBroker.com (for Florida licensees only) to review the credits SECO has reported on your behalf. You may contact SECO if you find discrepancies in your report and SECO will report any modifications to OE Tracker and CEBroker.

Florida Jurisprudence, Medical Errors and Omissions, AIDS
SECO 2010 offers a Medical Errors course, which may satisfy the requirement for Florida Jurisprudence.
Course 139: Prevention of Medical Errors: A Root Cause Analysis Approach
Friday, February 12, 4:45 - 6:45 PM
Kimberly Reed, OD, FAAO
Dr. Reed will discuss ways to prevent medical errors from occurring in the optometric practice.

Florida licensed professionals may visit Florida State Board of Optometry for further information on license renewal and Medical Errors requirements.

Reporting CE credits

SECO will report CE credits approximately 30 days after SECO 2010. Currently, SECO reports CE credits to the state licensing boards for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, OE Tracker (the national CE databank run by ARBO), and CEBroker.com, a service required for Florida licensees.

Multiple Registration Discounts

Multiple registration discounts are available to OD staff registering for the Allied Ophthalmic Professionals (AOP) education program. Enter the discount code MULT in the discount code field on the AOP registration form or online.