CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

CE requirements for the 2022-2024 Licensing Cycle:

• 30 hours are required for renewal:
• 12 hours must be tested (TQ or CEE)
• 18 hours must be regular CE:
  • Of which, no more than 4 hours can be practice management
  • A maximum of 4 hours per pre-renewal period for verified self-instruction or self-instruction by electronic means that is sponsored or co-sponsored by any approved optometry college, institution or national or State optometry association.
  • 1 hour of an in-person CPR course may be counted towards your regular hours. The course must be certified by the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, an Illinois licensed hospital, an approved medical or optometric institution, or a licensed CE sponsor. CPR is no longer a requirement for license renewal.

  
  1 hour of sexual harassment CE must be taken by all licensed optometrists at each renewal. (May be taken either online or in-person and will count as 1 hour of regular CE.)

  1 hour of implicit bias awareness training must be taken by all licensed optometrists at each renewal. (May be taken either online or in-person and will count as 1 hour of regular CE.)

  1 hour of training on Alzheimer's disease and other dementias must be taken by all licensed optometrists who provide services to adult populations age 26 and older at each renewal. (Counts as 1 hour of online CE if taken online.)
  
  3 hours of safe opioid prescribing CE must be taken by all optometrists who hold a Controlled Substance license in order to renew the license. (Counts as 3 hours of online CE if taken online.)

  Sexual harassment training, implicit bias training, dementia training, and safe opioid prescribing may all count towards your 30 hours of required CE. Safe opioid prescribing and dementia training count as online hours if completed online. Sexual harassment training and implicit bias training count as regular CE whether completed in-person or online. 
  
  First-time renewal applicants are exempt from CE requirements at the time of their first renewal. However, if the licensee holds a controlled substance license, they must comply with the 3-hour opioid CE requirement, even if this is the first renewal.

  Please note, these requirements may change before the 2024 renewal.
  The IOA will publish any changes to CE requirements in InSight, the IOA Journal, and through email communications.