Continuing Education Requirements

Florida Dispensing Opticians

Each biennium (every two years), Florida opticians are required to obtain 20 hours of approved continuing education classes. Of these 20 hours, a maximum of 5 hours may be out-of classroom (home study, audio, webinars, etc.) hours. This biennium began on January 1, 2021, and ends December 31, 2022.  Here is the current make-up of the required hours:

2 hours

2 hours

11 hours

5 hours

Florida Laws and Rules

Reduction of Medical and Ophthalmic Errors

Technical hours (spectacle and/or contact lenses)

Elective hours (sales, communication, risk management, management, etc.)

(By the way: Elective hours are NOT required. You may "elect" to do them or not. That's why they are called elective. You could get all 16 hours of technical if you wanted to.)

Also, if this is your first time renewing your license, one of the 20 hours must cover HIV-AIDS. See below for more details about your first-time renewal requirements.

Florida Dispensing Opticians – Board Certified

The requirements are the same as those for Florida Dispensing Opticians, except that of the 16 technical or elective hours, a minimum of 4 hours must be approved contact lens courses. 

Florida Dispensing Opticians – First-Time Renewals

Of the 16 technical and elective hours, opticians renewing for the first time must attend an approved course covering HIV-AIDS. Additionally, opticians licensed within the first year of the biennium renewing a license for the first time must complete only 10 hours of approved continuing education. These must include 5 hours related to the technical practice of opticianry, 1 hour of HIV/AIDS education, 2 hours of Prevention of Medical Errors. Opticians licensed in the second year of the biennium are exempt from continuing education requirements for the first renewal!

(Remember: Opticians are now on a virtually 100% audited system. When you attend classes, your participation is reported to the Florida Board of Opticianry through CE Broker. When you attempt to renew, if CE Broker does not have your classes logged, you will be required to provide proof of attendance.)

ABO-NCLE Certification and Renewal

Florida licensed opticians need only submit a current copy of their Florida license in order to renew their ABO and/or NCLE certificates. In fact, any optician practicing in a state that requires continuing education for license renewal may renew using this method. Currently, states that require continuing education for license renewal are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. For further information, click here to go to the ABO-NCLE website.