PURPOSE: This rule clarifies the license renewal requirements and procedures.

1. (1) Every registered optometrist shall notify the board of every change of address(es) at which s/he is practicing within thirty (30) days.
2. (2) Every registered optometrist shall prominently display his/her certificate of renewal in his/her principal place of practice.
3. (3) Whenever a registered optometrist has additional offices, s/he, in lieu of delivering a certificate of identification to each patient in his/her care, may display a duplicate certificate of registration and a duplicate renewal certificate in each additional office.
4. (4) A period of sixty (60) days grace is established following the date by which every registered optometrist must renew his/her certificate of registration. The board shall cause a certificate to be renewed if the renewal is sought and fees are paid before the expiration of the grace period. No certificate shall be renewed after the grace period unless, within five (5) years, the holder submits the required reactivation fee plus satisfactory evidence of his/her attendance, for a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours, at education programs approved by the board.
5. (5) Every optometrist currently licensed in Missouri shall obtain, during each continuing education reporting period, a minimum of sixteen (16) hours of approved continuing education (herein “C.E.” credits) relevant to the practice of optometry. A licensee shall obtain no less than eight (8) hours of approved continuing education during the first year of the continuing education reporting period and no less than eight (8) hours of approved continuing education in the second year of the reporting period.
6. (6) The continuing education reporting period shall begin on September 1 and end on August 31 of each even-numbered year. C.E. credits earned after August 31 of each evennumbered year shall apply to the next reporting cycle unless the licensee pays the continuing education penalty fee. Payment of the continuing education penalty fee will provide a licensee with the ability to earn C.E. credits between September 1 and December 31 of that even-numbered year. In any odd-numbered year, C.E. credits earned between September 1 and December 31 of that year may apply to the first year of the continuing education reporting period if the licensee pays the continuing education penalty fee. A renewal license will not be issued until all renewal requirements have been met. If the licensee pays the continuing education penalty fee for C.E. credits earned late, those credits shall not be applied to the next reporting cycle.
7. (7) Licensees shall report the number of C.E. credits earned during the continuing education reporting period on the renewal form provided by the board. The licensee shall not submit the record of C.E. attendance to the board except in the case of a board audit.
8. (8) Every licensed optometrist shall maintain full and complete records of all approved C.E. credits earned for the two (2) previous reporting periods in addition to the current reporting period. The records shall document the titles of the courses taken, dates, locations, course sponsors, category of hours earned (general optometric study or glaucoma training) and number of hours earned. The board may conduct an audit of licensees to verify compliance with the continuing education requirement. Licensees shall assist the board in its audit by providing timely and complete responses to the board’s inquiries.
9. (9) Violation of any provision of this rule shall be deemed by the board to constitute misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, unethical conduct or unprofessional conduct in the performance of the functions or duties of an optometrist depending on the licensee’s conduct. In addition, a licensee who has failed to complete and report in a timely fashion the required sixteen (16) hours of continuing education and engages in the active practice of optometry without the express written authority of the board shall be deemed to have engaged in the unauthorized practice of optometry.

10. (10) The following guidelines govern the attendance of educational optometric programs for license renewal:

    1. (A) Each speaker, lecturer or other participant in the presentation of the continuing education program must be recognized as possessing the requisite qualifications and as being expert in his/her field. The board will determine whether a speaker, lecturer or other person meets the requirements of this section;
    2. (B) Instruction courses sponsored for commercial purposes by individuals or institutions or programs in which the speaker advertises or urges the use of any particular ophthalmic product or appliance generally shall not be recognized for educational credit. Exceptions shall be made if the procedure in subsection (10)(D) is followed and the majority of the board votes to recognize the instruction course or program;

    3. (C) Educational programs that currently are approved, except as noted in subsection (10)(B), as meeting the minimum standards, include the following:

       1. 1. Educational meetings of the Ameri-

can Optometric Association (AOA);

1. 2. Educational meetings of the National

Optometric Association (NOA);

1. 3. Educational meetings of the Missouri

Optometric Association or any other state optometric association affiliated with the American Optometric Association;

1. 4. Scientific sections and continuing

education courses of the American Academy of Optometry;

1. 5. Postgraduate courses offered at any

accredited college of optometry;

1. 6. Educational meetings of the Southern

Council of Optometrists;

1. 7. Educational meetings approved by the

Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE);

1. 8. Educational meetings of the North

Central States Optometric Council;

1. 9. Educational meetings of the Heart of

America Optometric Congress and the Heart of America Contact Lens Society;

1. 10. Educational meetings of the College

of Optometrists in Vision Development;

1. 11. Educational meetings of the Opto-

metric Extension Program; and

1. 12. Optometric related meetings of any

accredited school of medicine.

1. (D) With the exception of any of the previously mentioned educational organizations, any other regularly organized group of optometrists that wishes to sponsor an educational program to meet the standard for license renewal in Missouri shall submit two

1. (2) copies of the program schedule and outline to the board’s executive director not fewer than sixty (60) days prior to the date of the program and shall pay the continuing education sponsor fee. The outline must indicate the program’s subject matter, the number of hours required for its presentation and the identity and qualifications of the speakers and instructors. The board shall review the schedule and outline. If the program meets the standards set out in subsections (10)(A)–(B), the board may grant approval. The board will not consider requests for approval of any program submitted following the meeting;

   1. (E) Licensees who present Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) approved continuing education will be allowed one (1) hour of continuing education credit for each hour of the continuing education presented. Each COPE numbered course may be used one time for continuing education credit during the reporting period;
   2. (F) Licensees who are enrolled in a postgraduate residency program accredited by the Council on Optometric Education will receive eight (8) hours of continuing education credit to satisfy one (1) year of the two (2)-year reporting period; and
   3. (G) The board will consider requests for exemption from the educational requirements only if the request for exemption is filed with the board’s executive director and actually approved by the board before the end of the reporting period. The request for exemption must be by sworn affidavit and must clearly set out the reasons asserted for noncompliance, including at least a listing of all other years for which the board has exempted the licensee and a listing of the dates upon which the licensee’s reasons for exemption required his/her absence from active practice. In its discretion, the board may refuse to exempt a licensee from the required attendance, notwithstanding the existence of a valid reason, if the board determines that the licensee has or had other reasonable opportunities to meet the requirements of this rule.
2. (11) The license renewal period shall commence on November 1 and end on October 31 of each even-numbered year.

AUTHORITY: sections 336.080 and 336.160.1, RSMo 2000.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 210-2.030. Original rule filed Dec. 19, 1975, effective Dec. 29, 1975. Amended: Filed Aug. 30, 1979, effective Feb. 11, 1980. Amended: Filed Sept. 12, 1980, effective Dec. 13, 1980. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Oct. 14, 1981, effective Jan. 14, 1982. Amended: Filed Feb. 9, 1982, effective May 13, 1982. Amended: Filed Oct. 12, 1982, effective Jan. 13, 1983. Amended: Filed Feb. 8, 1983, effective May 12, 1983. Amended: Filed Aug. 4, 1986, effective Oct. 27, 1986. Amended: Filed Oct. 28, 1987, effective Jan. 29, 1988. Amended: Filed Sept. 6, 1988, effective Dec. 11, 1988. Amended: Filed May 17, 1989, effective Aug. 24, 1989. Amended: Filed Feb. 4, 1992, effective June 25, 1992. Amended: Filed May 21, 1993, effective Nov. 8, 1993. Amended: Filed Sept. 13, 1995, effective March 30, 1996. Amended: Filed June 16, 1998, effective Dec. 30, 1998. Amended: Filed Dec. 14, 2001, effective June 30, 2002. Amended: Filed Jan. 3, 2006, effective June 30, 2006. Moved to 20 CSR 2210-2.030, effective Aug. 28, 2006. *Original authority: 336.080, RSMo 1939, amended 1943, 1963, 1981 and 336.160.1, RSMo 1939, amended 1947, 1963, 1981.