BOARD NEWS
January 2022
IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING COURSES
Licensed Optometrists
Greetings: Md. Code Ann., Health Occ. § 1-225 mandates that licensed health providers complete an implicit bias training program. Specifically, this program is a condition of license renewal in either 2022 or 2023 for optometrists. Note that this law applies not just to the Optometry Board, but to all health occupation licensees and certificate holders in Maryland. This is a one-time only requirement. You are required to complete the program as a condition of license renewal.
ALTHOUGH YOU MUST COMPLETE ONE OF THE OFFERED PROGRAMS,
YOU WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE A CERTIFICATE OF
COMPLETION TO THE OPTOMETRY BOARD.
When you complete the program please make a note of the name of the program, the date that it was completed, and the time it took you to complete the program. Licensed optometrists may receive continuing education credit for completion of the program.
On your 2022 or 2023 renewal application you will be asked to “Attest” to the fact that you completed the implicit bias training program. If you have not, you will not qualify for license renewal. Keep in mind that during any renewal cycle, a licensee may receive up to a combined total of 4 continuing education hours for Board-approved courses in cultural competency.
The Board approved course may be accessed at Take a Test (harvard.edu).
All implicit bias training programs must be approved by the Cultural and
Linguistic Health Care Professional Competency Program within the Maryland
Department of Health. Other courses are not approved.
The Board apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.
