New
Mexico Register / Volume XXXIII, Issue 3 / February 8, 2022
This is an amendment to 16.16.4 NMAC, Sections 9 and 10, effective 2/26/2022.
16.16.4.9 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: At least 65 days prior to the next scheduled examination every applicant for licensure by endorsement must submit to the board office the required application-processing fee with a letter of intent stating the date of examination for which he/she wishes to be scheduled. The following items must be received by the board office at least 40 days prior to the regularly scheduled board examination for which the applicant wishes to be scheduled.
[A. A copy of the applicant's birth certificate certified to
be a true and correct copy of the original.]
[B]
A. An affidavit that the
applicant has not at any time preceding application been engaged in any
optometric practice of an illegal or unethical nature as defined in the
Optometry Act.
[C] B. Copy(ies) of any
other state license(s) held by the applicant.
[D] C. Official
pre-optometry transcript(s) sent directly to the board office by each college
or university attended by the applicant.
[E] D. A complete,
official optometry transcript showing the applicant's graduation sent directly
to the board office by a college of optometry as approved by the American
optometric association's council on optometric education.
[F] E. Letters of
reference from two currently licensed optometrists in the endorsing state of
licensure.
[G] F. Verification of
successful completion of 100 or more post-graduate clock hours of ocular
therapeutics pharmacology from an accredited institution.
[H] G. A complete
professional resume or curriculum vitae to date.
[I] H. Copy of current
certification attesting to completion of a CPR course offered by the American
red cross, the American heart association, or the American safety and health
institute (ASHI). The course cannot be
self-study.
[J] I. A completed,
signed, and [notarized] board-approved exam application form.
[K] J. The required
application and examination fees (16.16.2.8 NMAC and 16.16.2.9 NMAC).
[L] K. A recent,
passport-type photograph of the applicant [which the applicant has signed on
the back in the presence of the notary public who is also witnessing the
applicant's signature on the application form.]
[M] L. Verifications of
licensure status sent directly to the board from all state licensing boards
where the applicant is or has ever been licensed. Endorsement candidates will require the
following information:
(1) verification that the applicant has been actively engaged in the practice of optometry in the state of licensure or in federal service for seven consecutive years immediately prior to the year in which application is made to the board office;
(2) verification that the applicant has completed 14 days, or 112 hours of continuing education during the immediate seven years prior to the application, providing that at least 22 of those hours were completed within the immediate prior year; and
(3) verification of examination requirements which the applicant met to be licensed to practice in that state (see 16.16.4.8 NMAC).
[N] M. Verification must
be provided for pre-1994-1995 academic year optometry school graduates of
successful completion of a minimum 20 hour course in clinical pharmacology as
set forth in Subsection B of 16.16.7.11
NMAC.
[O]
N. A list of the names of
any New Mexico licensed optometrist(s) with whom the applicant is acquainted;
with whom the applicant has a professional or personal affiliation; or that the
applicant would feel uncomfortable being examined by, in the event that one of
those optometrists is a board member or a clinical examiner for the board. Failure to provide this information prior to
the examination may disqualify the candidate from the exam.
[P]
O. Each approved exam
candidate will be required to bring their copy of the board’s exam policy and
procedures document to the clinical exam and to sign it in the presence of the
board’s representative in attestation that the candidate has read the document;
and a copy of the document will become a part of the candidate’s examination
records.
P. proof of any
disqualifying criminal convictions as defined in 16.16.21.12 NMAC.
[11/17/1973; 12/6/1987; 3/31/1991; 8/21/1992; 6/24/1994; 10/18/1994; 10/14/1995; 5/31/1996; 2/15/1999; 16.16.4.9 NMAC - Rn, 16 NMAC 16.4.9, 3/15/2001; A, 3/15/2004; A, 3/22/2008; A, 7/6/2012; A, 6/25/2015; A, 2/26/2022]
16.16.4.10 EXPEDITED LICENSURE: Doctors of optometry with current licenses in good standing in jurisdictions within the United States with licensing standards equal to or greater than New Mexico as determined by the board of optometry shall be eligible for expedited licensure. Criterion for this licensure shall include payment of the application fee and the licensure fee, completing the proper application forms, and passing the New Mexico jurisprudence examination within one year of licensure. Any applicant for this expedited licensure procedure who has had a license suspended or revoked in another jurisdiction within the United States and its territories shall not be eligible for expedited licensure.
[16.16.4.10 NMAC - N, 10/15/1997; A, 2/26/2022]