Continuing Education FAQs

Visit our Online CE page at optometry.berkeley.edu/ce to learn about upcoming courses and click the “Register Now” button to use our secure payment gateway to register for courses.

Berkeley Optometry offers live, interactive online CE courses for individual purchase starting at $30 per CE hour, unless otherwise noted. Some CE series may have bundled or early registration fees, which are usually less than the $30 per CE hour price.

If you registered for the course, you will receive a Zoom webinar invitation from no-reply@zoom.us with the webinar information prior to the course start time. Make sure to check your email’s spam folder if you don’t see the email.

Within the Zoom webinar invitation, there is a hyperlink embedded within the “Click Here to Join” text. By clicking this link you will be redirected to a new webpage to join via web or, if you have the Zoom application downloaded, a dialog box will prompt you to open the webinar within the Zoom application.

If you did not receive this email, please notify us at optoce@berkeley.edu. Please make sure to check your email’s spam folder first.

You must register in advance in order to attend a CE lecture. Unless otherwise noted on the event webpage, registration closes 3 hours before the course or when capacity is filled, whichever comes first.

Visit our Online CE page at optometry.berkeley.edu/ce and click the “Register Now” button to register for a specific course.

Due to intellectual property rights, the recording will not be distributed to attendees. Any recording of the lecture is for archival and COPE purposes.

Registered attendees can access the lecture handouts sent and linked in the post-event email.

As of January 1, 2022, our online, interactive lectures are considered Interactive Distance Learning by COPE as outlined in their ‘Transition Period for Interactive Online CE’ published on October 29, 2021 on www.arbo.org. In order to be considered Interactive Distance Learning by COPE, a course must:

• Have synchronous learning (the learners and the instructor(s) attend together at the same time);
• Attendees must be able to have immediate interaction with the instructor (i.e. live webinar); and
• The activity can only be presented at one specified time, and once it has taken place, the learners may no longer participate in that activity.

For our live online events, attendees are able to interact with the speaker and ask questions in real-time via Zoom video conference. Per COPE’s ‘Transition Period for Interactive Online CE,’ post-course tests are not currently required for COPE-accredited Interactive Distance Learning courses/activities. This page will be updated if the guidelines change when the transition period ends on June 30, 2022.

Depending on your state board requirements, the Interactive Distance Learning COPE credit type may or may not be counted as “live” credit. Attendees should verify with their state board if this type of online, interactive webinar will count towards live CE credit.

Our live, online lectures meet the live, interactive CE coursework requirements of the California State Board of Optometry listed at optometry.ca.gov. Per the 'Optometrist Continuing Education Requirements' documentation, interactive courses offered live over internet platforms such as Zoom, or courses being offered by COPE, count towards the 30 hours required of live continuing education course credits in California (i.e., they are NOT considered 'self-study' courses). As of May 2020, licensees in California may complete all of their required CE hours using online courses per optometry.ca.gov.

You can review the California State Board Requirements at optometry.berkeley.edu/ce. We’ve developed a series of engaging continuing education conferences, forums and courses specifically designed to meet the required standards of California Board of Optometry.

Yes, courses and activities approved by the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) that are offered by Berkeley Optometry are clearly identified as 'COPE-accredited' with accompanying course and activity numbers.

NOTE: As of January 1, 2022, our live online courses are considered 'Interactive Distance Learning' by COPE per their 'Transition Period for Interactive Online CE' guidelines listed on the ARBO website.

Attendees that do not require COPE accreditation for the course should verify with their state board if this type of online, interactive lecture counts towards live CE credit.

For Berkeley Optometry Live Online CE lectures, attendees will receive CE credit when they:

• Log in to the webinar with an identifiable name and/or email (the same as was used for registration) — please log in 5-10 minutes prior to the lecture;
• Are admitted by the moderators; and
• Stay logged in for 50 instructional minutes per 1 CE hour lecture; 100 instructional minutes for 2 CE hour lecture; 150 instructional minutes for 3 CE hour lecture; or 200 instructional minutes for 4 CE hour lecture (not including breaks)

Partial attendance of a COPE course does not count towards COPE CE. However, if you were disconnected and must log back in, your re-login time will be included in the total login duration.

Berkeley Optometry live, online CE courses are approved for live, interactive coursework in the state of California. Any attendees that do not require COPE accreditation for courses should verify with their state board if this type of online, interactive lecture will count towards live CE credit.

The Berkeley Optometry Continuing Education program expects all program participants to adhere to the UC Berkeley Code of Conduct and Principles of Community, whether in online or in-person CE events.

Due to the online mode of offering CE, we must count attendance based on Zoom Webinar login information. Because of this, we will not be able to offer credit if we do not have a Zoom record of attendance.

In order to meet COPE guidelines, you must be logged in for 50 instructional minutes per 1 CE hour lecture; 100 instructional minutes for 2 CE hour lecture; 150 instructional minutes for 3 CE hour lecture; or 200 instructional minutes for 4 CE hour lecture (not including breaks).

Partial attendance of a COPE course does not count towards COPE CE. However, if you were disconnected and must log back in, your re-login time will be included in the total login duration.

We recommend that you log in to the webinar 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the lecture using a stable internet connection on your computer.

For COPE-accredited courses, Berkeley Optometry will submit earned CE units to ARBO if the registrant has provided their OE Tracker number at registration.

The Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry’s (ARBO) OE Tracker program captures and stores continuing education attendance data for optometrists. The OE Tracker number allows you to track COPE-accredited CE hours through the ARBO website. Learn more on the ARBO website at arbo.org/oet_info.php.

CE Letters will be emailed within 10 business days after the lecture. Please add optoce@berkeley.edu to your email contacts/safe senders list to ensure that the email with your certificate does not go to your spam folder.

Yes, please put your request in writing by email to optoce@berkeley.edu. Include your name, email address that you used to register for the CE event, and the date range for your request.

Please allow 10 business days for us to respond to your request and we will email you a digital copy of your certificate.

Participants need to download the free Zoom application in order to view our Online CE. You do not need a Zoom account, but you do have to download the Zoom app to join as a participant. Download the Zoom application for your device at zoom.us/download.

We recommend that you test your internet connection before joining the webinar to avoid any connection issues during the event. Unfortunately, we're not able to troubleshoot any technical issues that are outside of our control, such as those that might stem from your internet provider.

When you join the webinar using your unique link from the email you received from Zoom, your name, email, and log-in time will be noted by Zoom and will automatically confirm your CE attendance.

All lectures start promptly on time and will be either 50, 100, 150, or 200 total instructional minutes, depending on the lecture.

All participants are muted upon entry and will remain muted during the lecture. You may ask a question directly in the Chat field during the lecture. The faculty moderator will either answer the question or ask the speaker to respond to it live.

You can enlarge the speaker image by “grabbing and dragging” the corner of the image with your cursor. You can also change your view to see just the presentation slides or just the speaker by clicking “View” in the top right corner. Review your Zoom viewing options in the Zoom Help Center at support.zoom.us.

If you registered for the course, you will receive a Zoom webinar invitation from no-reply@zoom.us with the webinar information prior to the course start time.

Within the Zoom webinar invitation, there is a hyperlink embedded within the Click Here to Join text. Your password is automatically incorporated into this unique link. Although you may not be asked for a password when you join the webinar, your name, email, and log-in time will be noted by Zoom and will automatically confirm your CE attendance. Please do not confirm your attendance in the Chat field.

Per COPE’s 'Transition Period for Interactive Online CE,' post-course tests are not currently required for COPE-accredited 'Interactive Distance Learning' courses/activities. However, in the future, a post-course test may also be required to receive COPE credits. This page will be updated if the guidelines change when the transition period ends on June 30, 2022.

We recommend attending and viewing the lecture from a stable connection (i.e. hardwired connection or strong wifi connection) on a laptop or computer.

Viewing on a cellular device and/or over a cellular network may not produce the best presentation view of the slides and lecture.

We recommend that you test your internet connection before joining the webinar to avoid any connection issues during the event. Unfortunately, we're not able to troubleshoot any technical issues that are outside of our control, such as those that might stem from your internet provider.

Yes, you can be signed in to Zoom on one computer, one tablet, and one phone at a time.

If you sign into an additional device while logged into another device of the same type, you will be logged out automatically on the first device.

If you were disconnected and logged back into the webinar, your re-login time will be included in the total login duration. Please log in with the same email address / account for the entire webinar.

In order to get CE credit, you must stay logged in for at 50 instructional minutes per 1 CE hour lecture; 100 instructional minutes for 2 CE hour lecture; 150 instructional minutes for 3 CE hour lecture; or 200 instructional minutes for 4 CE hour lecture (not including breaks).

We recommend that you test your internet connection before joining the webinar to avoid any connection issues during the event, and that you log in 5-10 minutes prior to the official lecture start time.

Unfortunately, we're not able to troubleshoot any technical issues that are outside of our control, such as those that might stem from your internet provider.

All cancellation must be made in writing by email to optoce@berkeley.edu. We do not accept phone cancellations. To receive a full refund minus a $10 cancellation fee or credit for a future Online CE course equal in value, your cancellation request must be received at least 48 hours ahead of the webinar.

Cancellation received less than 48 hours ahead of the webinar will not be refunded or credited. No refund or credits will be provided to “no-shows” on the day of the webinar unless due to a medical emergency.

Cancellation due to medical emergencies must include a note from your primary or diagnosing physician. To receive a full refund minus the $10 cancellation fee or credit, we must receive your cancellation no later than 24 hours of completion of the webinar for a missed course.