California Optometry CE Requirements: TPA, Glaucoma, and MATE Act

To renew an active California optometry license, you must complete 40 hours of Board-approved continuing education every two years if you are not TPA-certified, or 50 hours every two years if you hold Therapeutic Pharmaceutical Agent certification. The rules sit in Business and Professions Code Section 3059 and Title 16, Section 1536 of the California Code of Regulations, and the California Board of Optometry enforces them through random audits each renewal cycle.¹²

Up to eight hours of your total may cover non-clinical topics such as patient care management or ethics. Business management courses do not count toward any portion of the requirement.¹

Clinical Content Rules for TPA and Glaucoma Certifications

If you are TPA-certified, at least 35 of your 50 hours must focus on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of ocular disease. Those 35 hours can be any mix of the following areas:

Glaucoma
Ocular infection
Ocular inflammation
Topical steroids
Systemic medication
Pain medication, including the risks of addiction associated with Schedule II drugs

If you also hold a glaucoma certification (TPG or TLG), 10 of those 35 clinical hours must specifically address glaucoma. The remaining 15 hours of your 50-hour total can go toward other clinical topics or, within the eight-hour cap, non-clinical content.³

Which CE Providers Count

The Board accepts hours only from specific provider categories:

Courses directly approved by the Board
Courses sponsored or recognized by any accredited U.S. school or college of optometry
National or state affiliates of the American Optometric Association, the American Academy of Optometry, or the Optometric Extension Program
Courses approved by COPE (the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education)
AMA Category 1 or AOA Category 1A continuing medical education courses relevant to optometric practice

Confirm with the Board before paying for anything outside those categories. A course that turns out to be unapproved will not count, and you usually find out too late to replace the hours.

Live Hours, Self-Study, and Alternative Credit

California caps self-study and alternative credit at 25 hours per biennial cycle. Every other hour must come from live, interactive coursework where you can engage with the instructor in real time, either in person or in a live online session.¹

Self-study covers any format without real-time interaction: pre-recorded lectures, podcasts, video courses, books, or app-based programs. Credit is granted only after you pass a test on the material.¹

The 25-hour alternative bucket also includes several non-course options. Teaching a Board-approved CE course earns the same credit hours attendees receive, provided you don’t repeat the same course within the two-year period. Publishing in an optometric or scientific journal earns one hour per full printed page. A full day of live attendance at a Board of Optometry meeting earns one hour for every two hours of open session, up to four hours. A CPR course from the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or another Board-approved organization earns up to four hours. Serving as a subject matter expert for the Board’s California Laws and Regulations Examination earns one hour per hour of workshop attendance, up to 12 hours per cycle.¹

You cannot repeat the same course for credit within a single two-year renewal period.¹

Exemptions, Inactive Status, and Hardship Extensions

A few situations change the requirement for a given cycle. If you were initially licensed within one year of graduating from an accredited optometry school, your first renewal is exempt from CE.¹ Optometrists on inactive status do not need CE to renew, but reactivating requires completing the full CE total for the renewal period immediately before reactivation.³ The Board can grant exceptions for health reasons, military service, or other good cause, and may approve a makeup plan covering both the missed and upcoming requirements.²

Submit any extension or exemption request at least 30 days before your license expires. Asking after expiration puts your license at risk.

Audits and Recordkeeping

Renewal runs on an honor system backed by audits. When you renew online through the Department of Consumer Affairs BreEZe portal, you attest under penalty of perjury that you have completed the required hours. Certificates are not uploaded at renewal.³

The Board selects a percentage of licensees for audit each cycle. If you are picked, you have 10 days from the Board’s written request to produce certificates of completion and supporting documentation. Keep every CE record for at least four years from the renewal date, not from the date you took the course.³

Failing an audit or falsely attesting to completion can lead to a citation and fine, and can escalate to formal discipline including suspension or revocation. The 10-day window is tight, so the only reliable protection is a filing system you build before an audit arrives.

DEA Registration and MATE Act Training

This is separate from your Board CE and applies only to TPA-certified optometrists who prescribe oral analgesics containing codeine, hydrocodone, or tramadol. Those prescribers must hold DEA registration; TPA optometrists who don’t prescribe those drugs do not need it.

If you do hold DEA registration, the MATE Act (part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023) requires a one-time, eight-hour training on treating and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders. It is not recurring, but you must attest to completing it when you initially register or renew your DEA certificate.⁴ It can be completed through classroom sessions, professional society meetings, or virtual courses, and qualifying substance use disorder training completed before June 2023 may count. The hours sit outside your California Board CE total, though a COPE-accredited substance use disorder course could potentially satisfy both.

1
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 16 Section 1536
2
California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 3059
3
California Board of Optometry. Optometrist Continuing Education Requirements
4
Drug Enforcement Administration. Opioid Use Disorder MATE Act Q and A