Contact Information for the National Glaucoma Society
National Glaucoma Society (NGS)
P.O. Box 4092
Andover, MA 01810
Telephone: 978-470-3500
Toll-free: 877-825-2020
Fax: 978-470-4520
e-mail: info@nationalglaucomasociety.org
Janet Swartz, EdD
Executive Director
J. James Thimons, OD, FAAO
Chairman
Bud O’Leary, OD
Director
Upcoming Programs
September 14, 2022
The NGS Fall webinars will start up on Wednesday, September 14 with a one-hour webinar from 8-9 p.m. Eastern time. More details will be posted soon.September 28, 2022
The second Wednesday webinar in September will take place on September 28 from 8-9 p.m. Eastern time. More details will be posted soon.October 1-2, 2022
The National Glaucoma Symposium 2022 will be a virtual program on Saturday and Sunday, October 1-2.Your Registrations
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News
NATIONAL GLAUCOMA SYMPOSIUM VIRTUAL IN 2022
The National Glaucoma Symposium will be a virtual program in 2022. We are working on a program with 8 hours of glaucoma CE for Saturday-Sunday, October 1-2. More information will be posted soon.
LIVE WEBINARS = LIVE CE IN MASSACHUSETTS
At their Decmber 15, 2021 meeting, the Massachusetts Board of Optometry specified that a live webinar where speakers and attendees can interact in real-time are considered to be live CE. The Board clarified that distance learning CE courses, which are limited to 6 hours per renewal cycle, are those where the licensees are reading content or observing media on their own with no interaction with the instructor. Thus, the COPE-approved interactive NGS webinars count as live CE for MA optometrists.NEW HAMPSHIRE ALLOWS 100% VIRTUAL CE IN 2022
The New Hampshire Board of Optometry has issued has a new standing order dated January 11, 2022 that authorizes all credit hours of continuing education to be obtained through virtual or alternative means in 2022. A copy of this order can be found on the New Hampshire Board of Optometry website (oplc.nh.gov) under Laws and Rules.
CE BROKER FOR TEXAS OPTOMETRISTS
The NGS will submit attendance data to CE Broker for Texas optometrists who attend our webinars. We will continue to mail CE certificates so attendees have a copy for their records and also will send attendance data to ARBO's OE Tracker.NEW COPE RULES FOR INTERACTIVE WEBINARS
COPE has announced a transition period from January through June, 2022, while they develop new guidelines for online CE. During this transition period, live, interactive webinars will go back to being considered Interactive Distance Learning, but post-course tests will NOT be required. Thus, the NGS live webinars will be COPE approved as Interactive Distance Learning CE starting in January 2022. A number of states consider live, interactive webinars to be live CE, without restrictions on the number of credits, including: California, New York, Minnesota, Texas, Virginia and Vermont. For optometrists in those states, the COPE changes will not have an impact. Other states may consider the live webinars to be live CE (e.g., Pennsylvania for this renewal cycle) or may treat the live webinars as online CE with restrictions on the number of hours. Check with your State Board to determine how these hours will be treated for 2022.PENNSYLVANIA CONTINUES TO ALLOW ONLINE CE
The NGS has just been notified that the Board of Optometry will continue to allow all CE to be online for the renewal period that ends November 30. 2022. There was communication that the waiver in Pennsylvania that allowed all CE to be virtual will end on September 30, 2021. However, to avoid confusion in the middle of the renewal cycle, the Board has decided to continue to allow all CE to be online.MASSACHUSETTS GLAUCOMA LEGISLATION
On January 1, 2021, a bill was signed into law in Massachusetts giving optometrists the ability to provide glaucoma treatment, the last state in the country to do so. This new certification requires the completion of 20 hours of clinical education and 40 hours of didactic education. The law stipulates that these courses must be offered by the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists in conjunction with the two Massachusetts optometry colleges, NECO and MCPHS. This course is the only one that will meet the requirements of the law and be approved by the Division of Professional Licensure. Thus, none of the NGS webinars can be used toward the new glaucoma certification in Massachusetts.
CALIFORNIA ALLOWS LIVE WEBINARS AS LIVE CE
The California Board of Optometry now recognizes interactive courses offered live over internet platforms such as WebEx as Live CE toward the 30 hours of live continuing education required for license renewal. Courses can be live COPE courses offered by COPE's June 30, 2021 deadline or courses approved by the Board.NGS 1-HOUR WEBINARS
The NGS offers one-hour webinars September-December and January - May. These webinars are included in Full NGS Membership.Join Our Email List
