As part of the Alberta Opticians Association Continuing Competency Program, each Registered Optician and Registered Contact Lens Practitioner is required to complete Continuing Education (CE) in three-year cycles. Registrants are required to submit CE credits to the AOA at the end of each three-year cycle.
How to submit CE Certificates or CE activities for:

• Registrants 
• Continuing Education Providers 

For Registrants:

Submitting CE Certificates for the Current CE Cycle (deadline: June 30, 2011) Please ensure that the required number of CE credits are completed before submitting them to the AOA. CE certificates can be mailed (preferred), faxed or emailed to the AOA. Please submit all CE certificates as one package. The AOA will verify the completion of the credits and issue a written confirmation to registrants. It is your responsibility to ensure that the presenter submits your CE to the AOA on your behalf and that you retain copies of the CE forms in case they are lost.

The AOA developed the following tools to assist registrants in submitting CE certificates:

• Continuing Education Accreditation Submission Form - Members

This form is for registrants who plan to attend or have attended seminars or events that are not pre-approved by the AOA. Such seminars or events may include non-Opticianry courses with academic institutions, vision care professionals conventions in AB, vision care professionals conventions outside of AB, and private staff training sessions.

In addition to the application form, please also submit all supporting materials that can assist the AOA in the accreditation process. These materials can include handouts, outlines, PowerPoint presentations, self-assessments, tests, the registrant's personal notes of the seminar or event, and the registrant's personal summary or review of the seminar or event.

Please note that accreditation of such courses or events is at the discretion of the Continuing Competency Committee and the AOA.

• Processing Fees:
           $5.00 per course

For Providers (individuals and/or organizations) of Continuing Education :

Submitting Course Outlines for Credit Approval Providers of Continuing Education submit the following materials to the AOA for accreditation, prior to the presentation of the seminar or event. In order to give registrants appropriate advance notice of events, providers are strongly advised to submit the applications for accreditation at least 30 days prior to the scheduled seminar or event.

• Continuing Education Accreditation Submission Form - Vendors

This form is for Vendors/Suppliers to submit their Courses and Presentations for accreditation to the AOA. Providers complete and submit the application form to the AOA (electronic version is preferred).

• Biographical Information on presenter:
  Providers complete and submit the biography for each presenter (electronic version is preferred).

• Supporting Course Materials:
  Providers include all relevant course materials with the submission of the application form and biographical information. Course materials can include course outline, PowerPoint presentations, handouts and tests (electronic version is preferred).

• Processing Fees:
       $25.00 per course

The course application and materials will be evaluated by the AOA within five (5) working days, and the AOA will inform the provider of the status of the course. Approved course will be assigned a AOA code number, CE credit value and a short title.

At the conclusion of the CE event, providers are responsible for providing a proof of completion certificate to each participating registrant. The certificate must include the registrant's name, registration number, course code, credit value and short title.