AOA accepting staff as associate members

St. Louis, MO-Approximately 75,000 optometric staff members across the country will have the opportunity to access American Optometric Association (AOA)-member benefits, thanks to a motion approved in 2013 that allows eyecare professionals working for AOA-member ODs to become AOA associate members.

This initiative provides paraoptometrics with access to all Paraoptometric Resource Center member benefits and services at no membership cost and no added membership cost to the AOA-member OD. It also opens the door to expanded education and training for new optometric staff members. Among the benefits are:

• Online continuing education (CE) articles worth 6 hours of CE credits

• Paraoptometric Skill Builder Beginner Level 1 program

• Billing and Coding: Foundations for Beginners- 9-hour webinar series

• Access to member-only Web pages

• Discounted fees for paraoptometric education and certification preparation materials

• Reduced registration fees for Optometry's Meeting

The Commission on Paraoptometric Certification (CPC) status will not be affected by this change; the CPC will continue to operate without any changes.

To enroll staff:

1. Log in to www.aoa.org

2. Under the “Optometrist” tab, click on “My Profile/My AOA”

3. Click on the "Manage Staff" tab

4. Enter information for each staff person (non-OD)

To enroll, a staff member will need:

• Legal name of staff (as appears on driver's license)

• Date of birth

• Unique e-mail address for each staff person