College outlines new route to registration

In a letter to employers of pre-reg students this week, College chief executive Bryony Pawinska explained that the College had sought to find a practical and workable solution for the changes and listened to employers' concerns.
In recognition of the fact employers said they might not be ready for wholesale change to the pre-reg year, the College's Academic Committee had made the following decision, she wrote in the letter.
From this summer all trainees will participate in a new pre-reg year with the emphasis on competence assessment. Each student will be assessed at quarterly intervals by a College-appointed assessor.
As a transition from the old regime, all pre-reg students will take the PQE II in the summer of 2005, the PQE II will undergo some changes and re-sits would be available later in 2005. The PQE II will not be offered after summer 2005.
A sample of pre-regs will be offered the opportunity to take a trial of the one-day final assessment that it is planned will replace the PQE II post-2005. These trainees will have passed their PQE II and will be paid to take part in the trial.
Pawinska said she hoped the proposals would meet the approval of employers while providing 'a level playing field' for pre-reg trainees. She also confirmed that the College had put in place full support for supervisors and assessors and that the volumes of assessors needed to provide support for trainees were in place.
'I believe that the new pre-registration period represents a significant improvement in the quality of support offered by the College,' she said, concluding that the changes would lead to trainees becoming well rounded clinicians.
An interview with Bryony Pawinska will appear in optician in the near future.
The College of Optometrists has spelled out how it sees the new routes to registration being enacted and the changes it will mean for pre-reg students and employers.
In a letter to employers of pre-reg students this week, College chief executive Bryony Pawinska explained that the College had sought to find a practical and workable solution for the changes and listened to employers' concerns.
In recognition of the fact employers said they might not be ready for wholesale change to the pre-reg year, the College's Academic Committee had made the following decision, she wrote in the letter.
From this summer all trainees will participate in a new pre-reg year with the emphasis on competence assessment. Each student will be assessed at quarterly intervals by a College-appointed assessor.
As a transition from the old regime, all pre-reg students will take the PQE II in the summer of 2005, the PQE II will undergo some changes and re-sits would be available later in 2005. The PQE II will not be offered after summer 2005.
A sample of pre-regs will be offered the opportunity to take a trial of the one-day final assessment that it is planned will replace the PQE II post-2005. These trainees will have passed their PQE II and will be paid to take part in the trial.
Pawinska said she hoped the proposals would meet the approval of employers while providing 'a level playing field' for pre-reg trainees. She also confirmed that the College had put in place full support for supervisors and assessors and that the volumes of assessors needed to provide support for trainees were in place.
'I believe that the new pre-registration period represents a significant improvement in the quality of support offered by the College,' she said, concluding that the changes would lead to trainees becoming well rounded clinicians.
An interview with Bryony Pawinska will appear in optician in the near future.
The College of Optometrists has spelled out how it sees the new routes to registration being enacted and the changes it will mean for pre-reg students and employers.
In a letter to employers of pre-reg students this week, College chief executive Bryony Pawinska explained that the College had sought to find a practical and workable solution for the changes and listened to employers' concerns.
In recognition of the fact employers said they might not be ready for wholesale change to the pre-reg year, the College's Academic Committee had made the following decision, she wrote in the letter.
From this summer all trainees will participate in a new pre-reg year with the emphasis on competence assessment. Each student will be assessed at quarterly intervals by a College-appointed assessor.
As a transition from the old regime, all pre-reg students will take the PQE II in the summer of 2005, the PQE II will undergo some changes and re-sits would be available later in 2005. The PQE II will not be offered after summer 2005.
A sample of pre-regs will be offered the opportunity to take a trial of the one-day final assessment that it is planned will replace the PQE II post-2005. These trainees will have passed their PQE II and will be paid to take part in the trial.
Pawinska said she hoped the proposals would meet the approval of employers while providing 'a level playing field' for pre-reg trainees. She also confirmed that the College had put in place full support for supervisors and assessors and that the volumes of assessors needed to provide support for trainees were in place.
'I believe that the new pre-registration period represents a significant improvement in the quality of support offered by the College,' she said, concluding that the changes would lead to trainees becoming well rounded clinicians.
An interview with Bryony Pawinska will appear in optician in the near future.