Ohio Administrative Code|Rule 4725-3-08 | Requirements for licensure by reciprocity.

                                                
The board will recognize for licensure by
		endorsement any optometrist meeting the requirements of section 4725.18 of the
		Revised Code who has an active license in good standing issued by another state
		board of optometry or a province in Canada.
The applicant for licensure by endorsement must
		meet the qualifications as set forth in divisions (A) and (B)(1) to (B)(4) of
		section 4725.12 of the Revised Code. The applicant must provide proof of being
		in an active practice of optometry including the use of therapeutic
		pharmaceutical agents, for at least three years immediately preceding the
		application. The board may require that the applicant pass all or part of the
		licensing examination accepted by the board under section 4725.11 of the
		Revised Code if the board determines that testing is necessary to determine the
		applicants qualifications for issuance of a certificate of licensure and
		therapeutic pharmaceutical agents certificate under this paragraph.
If the applicant has not been involved in an active
		practice of optometry for the past three years the board may require additional
		testing as deemed necessary. The minimum requirement for such non-practicing
		applicants to be granted licensure by endorsement would be passing scores in
		the clinical skills section of the examination given by the national board of
		examiners in optometry or any equivalent examination as determined by the
		board.
Applicants licensed after May 19, 1992 must have
		passed the testing requirements of the national board of examiners in optometry
		as stated in the Ohio law. Applicants licensed prior to May 19, 1992 must have
		passed the national board of examiners in optometry examinations or a state
		test equivalent to the Ohio examination at the time the applicant was licensed
		in that state.
(A)  
The board may require copies of all testing given
		  by the state or province from the state board or province in which the
		  applicant was initially examined to determine that the test was equivalent to
		  the Ohio examination at the time the applicant was licensed in that state or
		  province. 
(B) All applications for initial licensure as a dispensing
		  optician or ocularist in Ohio by endorsement shall be submitted to the board in
		  a form designated by the board.
(C) Applications shall be: 
(1) Accompanied by the
			 fee in a form established by the board; and, 
(2) Accompanied by such
			 evidence, statement, or documents as specified on the application form,
			 including but not limited to: 
(a) Verification of licensure in good standing received
				directly from the state of the current licensure or registration at the time of
				application; and, 
(b) Shall submit to criminal records check completed by the
				bureau of criminal identification and investigation in accordance with section
				4725.501 of the Revised Code. The results of the criminal records check shall
				be received by the board prior to the issuance of a license to practice as a
				dispensing optician. In accordance with this rule, the applicant requesting the
				criminal records check shall: 
(i) Provide the bureau of
				  criminal identification and investigation with the applicant's name and
				  address and with the name and address for the Ohio vision professionals board;
				  and, 
(ii) Cause a records
				  check to be conducted with the federal bureau of investigation regarding
				  applicant. 
(3) The board will only
			 accept the results of a criminal records check that is submitted to the board
			 directly by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation.
			 
(D) An applicant for initial licensure by endorsement as a
		  dispensing optician shall: 
(1) Be at least eighteen
			 years of age; 
(2) Be of good moral
			 character; 
(3) Be a graduate of a
			 secondary school recognized by the state department of education in this state,
			 or similar educational agency in another state or has attained an educational
			 equivalent such as proof of having successfully passed the general educational
			 development (GED) examination or a GED certificate of high school equivalency
			 diploma. 
(4) Have successfully
			 completed either of the following: 
(a) A two-year college level program in optical dispensing
				approved by the board that includes, but is not limited to, courses of study
				in: 
(i) Mathematics;
				  
(ii) Science;
				  
(iii) English;
				  
(iv) Anatomy and
				  physiology of the eye; 
(v) Applied optics;
				  
(vi) Measurement and
				  inspection of lenses, lens grinding and edging; 
(vii) Ophthalmic optics;
				  
(viii) Ophthalmic lens
				  design; 
(ix) Keratometry; and,
				  
(x) Fitting and adjusting
				  of spectacle lenses, frames and contact lenses, including methods of fitting
				  lenses and post-fitting care; or, 
(b) Two years of supervised experience of at least one
				thousand hours per year in optical dispensing as a registered apprentice under
				the direct supervision of a licensed optician; or, 
(c) Two years of supervised experience as an employee and
				under the direct supervision of an optometrist or physician engaged in the
				practice of ophthalmology. 
(d) Not more than one year of such experience may be
				continuous, supervised optical laboratory experience of not less than thirty
				hours per week.
(5) The applicant has
			 successfully completed the state board national qualifying examination for
			 either the spectacle dispensing license, the contact lens dispensing license or
			 combination of both examinations for a spectacle-contact lens dispensing
			 license. 
(E) If an application for licensure by endorsement
		  submitted to the board remains incomplete for one year, the application shall
		  be considered void. 
(F) The appropriate license and wall certificate shall be
		  issued by the board no later than sixty days after approval by the board.
		  
(G) All applications for licensure as an optician or
		  ocularist, educated outside the United States of America, shall be submitted to
		  the board on the appropriate application as designated by the board.
		  
(H) Applications shall be: 
(1) Accompanied by a
			 non-refundable fee in a form established by the board and as prescribed in
			 division (B) of section 4725.48 of the Revised Code; and, 
(2) Accompanied by such
			 evidence, statements or documents as specified on the application form
			 including but not limited to: 
(a) An official transcript in English from the education
				program submitted to the board directly by the program administrator or
				designee that includes information sufficient for the board to determine
				whether the program has educational content and requirements that are
				substantially similar to those set forth in rule 4725-3-01 of the
				Administrative Code; or, 
(b) Evidence satisfactory to the board of completion of an
				apprentice program that meets the requirements of section 4725.48 of the
				Revised Code. 
(c) Evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant
				has successfully completed the appropriate state board national qualifying
				examination for the license sought. 
(I) An applicant for licensure as a dispensing optician or
		  ocularist, educated outside the United States of America shall: 
(1) Be at least eighteen
			 years of age; 
(2) Be of good moral
			 character; 
(3) Be a graduate of a
			 secondary school substantially similar to a high school equivalency diploma.
			 
(4) For a license as a
			 dispensing optician, have completed the requirements as established in rule
			 4725-3-01 of the Administrative Code. 
(5) For a license as an
			 ocularist, have completed the requirements as established in rule 4725-3-01 of
			 the Administrative Code. 
(J) In addition to the requirements of this rule, all
		  optician and ocularist applicants for licensure under this section, shall
		  submit to criminal records checks completed by the bureau of criminal
		  identification and investigation in accordance with section 4725.501 of the
		  Revised Code. 
(K) If an application for licensure, under this section, by
		  an optician or ocularist that is submitted to the board remains incomplete for
		  one year, the application shall be considered void. 
(L) The appropriate license and wall certificate shall be
		  issued by the board no later than sixty days after approval by the
		  board