The GOC ESR is of compelling importance for the future of the profession, and in this informal video ABDO president Clive Marchant explains just some of ABDO’s concerns.
Main points of concern
ABDO’s main points of concern are listed below. You may find these useful when composing your own response.
• Proposals which may see an increase in the number of examining bodies and the potential to make all assessments internal – lack of independent, rigorous assessment will inevitably drive down standards and put the public at risk.
• A lack of innovation in the review: we would have expected to see refraction as a delegated function, MECS, screening, monitoring and so on, without which there will ultimately be a detrimental impact on service delivery.
• The wording of Learning Outcomes does not stipulate the depth and breadth of subject matter which may mean a driving down of educational standards.
• Related to the ESR is the fact the GOC has deemed the minimum standard for education for a DO at Level 5 according to the Handbook1. The vast majority of registered DOs and ABDO members have achieved Level 6 so ABDO is concerned that the regulator is setting minimum standards at a lower level than FBDO graduates currently achieve.
• Three out of four domains mirror those of our optometry colleagues. Common domains should mean more progression opportunities between programmes depending on the interpretation by individual institutes.
• The review is supportive of CPD and lifelong learning culture that is relevant to our scope of practice and not too restrictive but there is a lack of information at this time as to the detail of the scheme.
• The formal addition of research skills training would be the only required change to the current L6 FBDO syllabus.
Follow this link to read the consultation document and submit your response by 25 February.
1. Guidelines for the approval and quality assurance of routes to GOC registration for Dispensing Opticians