The General Optical Council (GOC) has announced that 15% of those registrants who must undertake peer review Continuing Education and Training (CET) in the 2013-15 cycle have already done so since the start of the year. This represents 2,230 optometrists and contact lens opticians.

Peer review is designed to encourage registrants to learn from each other’s expertise by discussing interesting, difficult or unusual cases. The GOC has made it a compulsory part of CET for optometrists and contact lens opticians to help mitigate the potential risks of working in isolation with little or no contact with peers.

GOC Head of Education and Standards, Linda Ford, said:

“It’s extremely encouraging to see such a positive early take-up of peer review. Over the last few months I’ve been to peer review events all over the UK and have spoken to hundreds of registrants.

 

“We understand that many registrants feel a little nervous before taking part in peer review for the first time but the overwhelming majority have found it to be a hugely valuable experience and plan to attend further events. So many registrants have told me that they really value the opportunity to learn from their peers and share their own knowledge and expertise.

 

“Instead of just doing the minimum one peer review session per cycle required by the GOC, many registrants are now planning to get lots of their CET points from peer review and other interactive methods.”

In total, 92% of points gained so far in the new CET cycle have been from interactive learning methods.

All GOC registrants must now obtain at least 50% of their points from interactive methods.