College Newsletter November 2020

COVID-19 update - November AGM - CCP Reminder

Update on mask use in optician practice

COBC understands some confusion has arisen around the Ministry of Health’s November 4 policy communiqué entitled Mask Use in Health Care Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This communication was not intended for Allied Health Professionals working in community settings. We thank those of you who contacted us with question and we appreciate your patience while we awaited confirmation. 

We would like to ensure our registrants that Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed in a recent letter to Registrars of BC health regulatory colleges that a medical masking mandate (as set out in the communiqué) DOES NOT apply to allied health professionals, including Licensed Opticians, who practice in community settings.

Dr. Henry advises that registrants working in these settings continue to follow COVID-19 safety plans developed for their return to practice in May 2020, using guidance provided by their regulatory college. This includes the critical step of pre-screening all patients for COVID-19 in advance and maintaining appropriate distancing in waiting areas.

Dr. Henry’s letter can be viewed here.

Dr. Henry has asked that practitioners – particularly those in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions – review, update and rigorously follow their COVID-19 safety plans.
 

Learn more about what the COBC has been up to this past year, and hear a presentation on the importance of Indigenous Cultural Safety & Humility. Attending the AGM can also be used as an activity toward your continuing education requirements! Read more below for details:

When: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 from 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Where: Online through Zoom

RSVP: Please click here to register

Continuing Education: For registrants needing ideas for their Continuing Competency Program (CCP), attending this year’s online AGM can be used as an activity for one or two different learning goals: This type of activity is aligned with competency 3, so if you have chosen that competency to work on, and have created a goal that involves improving your awareness and understanding about regulation, you may include your attendance as one of your activities to help you achieve your goal.

In addition, this year’s AGM will feature a presentation on Indigenous Cultural Safety & Humility. If you have chosen competency 1 to work on, and have created a goal that involves understanding and combatting systemic racism in health care, you may include your attendance as one of your activities to help you achieve that goal.

We hope you’ll join us. 

RSVP
 
 

CCP reminder

If you are currently in your third and final year of your continuing education cycle, this is a reminder that all the steps of your Continuing Competency Program (CCP) must be completed by December 31, 2020. 

This program is self-managed, so you need to ensure all steps have been completed and all information has been added into your online program by the end of the year.

This includes: taking the assessment, creating goals for yourself, finding and completing activities to achieve those goals, and reflecting on how it went.

Please login to your profile on the COBC website to update your progress. If you have questions about CCP you can visit our website to access guides and tools or contact Christopher Dodge, Quality Assurance Manager.
 

Get certified in automated refraction

Automated refraction is a restricted practice and requires a Licensed Optician to obtain a specific certification in order to carry out the work. The Northern Alberta Institue of Technology (NAIT) runs a refraction course that meets BC's requirements for certification and the next intake starts on January 4, 2021.

The program is intended for Licensed Opticians and Contact Lens Fitters who wish to enhance their opticianry skill set by learning theories and methodologies involved in refraction. Online studies are 15-weeks in length, the clinical is 6-months.

Apply
 

Mandatory Reopening Survey

With many optical stores starting to re-open, it is important to ensure your employment information is up-to-date. 

If your business has experienced a closure or change in service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is mandatory that you complete the following survey to update your public profile with the most up-to-date information. Please click the link below to complete.

Complete the survey
 

Did You Know?

In your online COBC profile you can select your preferred email and mailing address. These are the correspondence details we default to whenever we need to contact you for important things such as renewal reminders and sending your practice permits. It is very important that both are up-to-date and you have indicated the one you would like us to use so please take a minute to login to your profile and make any necessary updates.

The College of Opticians of BC operates on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Unsubscribing from this email will revoke your consent to receive email correspondance from us as outlined in Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We will no longer be able to send you important reminders pertaining to your license which may affect your registration with the College of Opticians of BC. Please contact us if you have any questions.