Professional Opticians of Florida | Advancing the Profession of Opticianry

2012 North Florida's SPRING SPECTACLE

March 2-4, 2012

Ramada Plaza Beach Report

Fort Walton Beach, FL

Earn all 20 hours of Florida’s CE requirements including:

Laws & Rules course
Reduction of Medical Errors
Four Hours of Contact Lens Education
Plus learn new skills that you can use right away

POF offers the best and most affordable education for Opticians available anywhere.

For more information please visit the Spring Spectacle page

Florida Board Adopts a New Licensing Exam
	During their quarterly meeting earlier this year, Florida Board of Opticianry voted to adopt a new two part state board exam for initial licensure that will replace the current board exam in February 2012. The new exam was developed by the National Committee of State Optical Regulatory Boards (NCSORB) based on their years of research and surveys on the required competencies of opticians from member state licensing boards. One part of the exam will test for competencies and knowledge of optics and dispensing skills and the other on contact lenses and their fitting. Each part of the exam is designed to be two hours in length. The estimated cost of the examswill be $300 total for both parts of the exam, a significant reduction from the current $870 exam fee. The computer based exam will test for multiple skill competencies including the computer simulation of a variety of spectacle and contact lens tasks. Understandably, there will be many opticians and others that will be skeptical about the ability to test for opticianry skills virtually. However, here is what one well respected and long time optical educator, Ed De Gennaro, MEd, ABOM had to say about the NCSORB exam in his May.... Read the whole story on the new State Board Exam on POF.org's Board of Opticianry Page Exam Update as of January 2012 NCSORB is very excited about the new board exams which features a simulated testing experience as well as multiple choice examination questions. The following documents are now available for your review: National Practical Optician Candidate Manual Optician Skill Examination simulation Spectacles and Contact Lenses checklist For additional information please visit the NCSORB website, www.ncsorb.org, which now live!

CONTACT LENS FITTING COURSE
	Contact Lens Fitting Course Contact Lens Fitting Course has been re-scheduled until April of 2012 in South Florida For more information click here

More of 2012's Featured Events
	NCLE Revises Certification Renewal Policy for Florida Opticians POF has more great news for Florida Opticians that are NCLE certified; now Florida Opticians can renew their NCLE certification by using the alternative method. Effective now opticians licensed in Florida can renew both their ABO & NCLE by only sending a current copy of their license along with the required fee. As a Florida licensed opticians you will no longer need to collect any ABO or NCLE approved CE certificates. POF has been working to resolve this issue since 2002, finally thanks to our persistence and the astuteness of the ABO/NCLE's new executive director, Jim Gandorf we were able to streamline the renewal process for you. Please remember, POF is always working in the best interest of you, our members and your customers at the local, state and national level

	Great Online CE Hours Available Anytime at pofCE.org You can earn up to five educational hours to renew your license online right now at pofCE.org with over 12 different CE hours available to choose from, there is something for everyone. POF makes it easy for you, select the courses you want, read the course material online or take it with you, take the test when you want, you will get instant test results and your C.E. certificate is available to print immediately. As Always online courses are FREE to POF members. and new lower $14.97 per hour for non members. Check out these great courses anytime that you want, they are always available - but not always this cheap. Here are the education courses that are on sale and available on pofCE.org.

	Licensed Opticians: Your Vision Experts Visit POF's all new and expanded CONSUMER INFO page These updated pages have plenty of new information to assist the public in understanding; What an Optician? When do I need an Optician? Who's Who of the O's? Plus many more useful insights in our professional skills and abilities as licensed opticians. Visit the LicensedOpticians.info page

	POF Career Marketplace Gets Even Better It never hurts to take a look.... POF Career Marketplace is now your one-stop portal for finding that perfect optical position or employee. Along with our numerous career postings there are now more links other career posting sites, making your search that much quicker and easier. Go to Career Marketplace

	POF Offers Secure Online Payment System POF's new Payment & Event Gateway page, is the latest and safest way to handle all of your online transactions from one convenient location. From this new gateway you will now be able to; Register for all POF events from one location, Make purchases and use the POF Career Board, Verify and update your contact information and membership, From this point forward, you can track current & past registrations and view your payment history. Login to your Account or Set-up your Individual Account Today