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All optometrists licensed to practice optometry in North Dakota are required to certify forty hours of continuing education in each two year period (the current period is from 1/1/2024-12/31/2025). Of these 40 hours, only six may be in the area of practice management, and only sixteen hours can be by distance learning or online CE with a test at the end of the session.. In addition, one half of all CE, regardless of license status, must be in the area of Therapeutic Treatment and Management of Eye Disease. Newly licensed optometrists that receive their licenses mid-cycle must accrue 20 hours of CE for each full year after receiving their license. All licensed optometrists must be current in CPR and will be awarded one hour of CE credit per year for staying current in CPR.
Course Information
The North Dakota Board of Optometry will only approve courses offered by the state optometric associations of North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana. All other courses must be approved by COPE (Council on Optometric Practitioner Education) which is the continuing education accreditation system for ARBO( Association of Regulatory Boards in Optometry).
The Board will award twelve therapeutic hours of continuing education credit to those optometrists who voluntarily take the CPDO (Continued Professional Development in Optometry) test offered by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. The CPDO test is offered twice a year as a self assessment examination. Scores are issued only to the practitioner and are not released to any state board for any reason. The confidential results given to the practitioner reflect areas of expertise as well as areas of potential deficiencies in life-threatening or sight-threatening conditions. To take this test, contact the National Board of Examiners in Optometry at
www.optometry.org
. Credit for taking this examination is availble only once per CE cycle.
Continuing Education