MAINTENANCE OF FELLOWSHIP

For several years the Academy Board of Directors has discussed the issue of Maintenance of Fellowship. Our discussions began after our Ontario, Canada optometrists received notice from their licensure board that they would no longer be allowed to use the designation “FAAO.” While the Academy was persuasive in its argument to the Ontario College of Optometry (equivalent to our state board) and the ruling was suspended, it was made clear to us that the College’s concern was that fellowship was granted for a lifetime without any mechanism for renewal throughout an optometrist’s career. While they realized that becoming a Fellow involved extraordinary efforts and peer review, they were not convinced that this merited special recognition if there were no requirements to periodically certify that an individual was still worthy of holding the designation of FAAO. With so much attention in the past two years in the United States devoted to the issue of maintenance of competence, Maintenance of Fellowship has taken on new importance for your Board of Directors. Since all of our Diplomate programs require periodic renewal, it is the Board of Directors’ belief that requiring the same for Fellowship is reasonable and will add even more credibility to the designation of FAAO both within and outside of the profession. Board members Brett Bence and Bernie Dolan have spent many hours along with the Academy’s Presidential Advisory Task Force examining this issue and developing a point-system model for achieving Maintenance of Fellowship. It is the intention of the Board that this will be voluntary for all Fellows who earned their FAAO designation prior to 2010 and will become mandatory for all those earning Fellowship in 2010 and after. Please watch for details of this program, and I would encourage you to attend the business meeting of the Academy when we meet next month in Orlando, where this issue will be on the agenda. The necessary bylaws amendment will be discussed. This will be a good opportunity to express your opinion as you will have ample opportunity to learn the details of the program.[To Top]