Optical professionals are being advised to check that Continuing Education and Training (CET) events have been approved for their ‘target group’. The General Optical Council is reminding practitioners that they will not be credited with points for attending events aimed at other ‘target groups’.
Deputy registrar and director of education Dian Taylor explained: “The CET scheme is designed to make sure practitioners stay up to date in their core competencies. Having clearer information about the content and level of CET events will help registrants plan and attend the most relevant training.”
Any event may be approved for one or more groups. For example, a lecture on contact lens fitting might be approved for optometrists and contact lens opticians. A dispensing optician would not be awarded points for attending. If an event is approved for both general and specialist points, a specialist will be able to choose which type of points they would like to be credited with.
Providers have been issued with new logos, and should make it clear in any advertising or publicity material which target group(s) the CET has been approved for. Registrants can also check the target groups for any event on the CET Directory on the CETOptics website which includes a quick reference system with symbols showing the relevant target groups.
Representatives from the GOC and Vantage will be available at Optrafair this weekend (21-23 April) to answer questions about CET and other issues.