Canadian Examiners in Optometry

CACO

Moving to the Canadian Assessment of Competence in Optometry (CACO) ...

CEO-ECO’s Members (Canada’s provincial optometric regulators) and other stakeholders have ratified CEO-ECO’s initiative in moving from the CSAO to the Canadian Assessment of Competence in Optometry (CACO). The CACO will be first administered in October 2011 and will be the standard by which competence is verified in optometrists seeking authorization to practise in Members’ jurisdictions.

The CACO differs from the CSAO in a number of ways that reflect our evolving understanding of the abilities needed by optometrists to fulfill their role in Canada’s provincial and territorial health care systems. These abilities include:

Those necessary to fulfill the entire scope of practice of optometry in Canada
Collaborating with colleagues in optometry and in other caring professions in the interests of patients
Communicating effectively with patients and colleagues in either English or French
Synthesizing current knowledge and evidence in providing safe and effective care to patients, including the use of drug therapies

The CACO will be comprised of six essential components:

· Synthesis

· Ocular Therapeutics

· Clinical Skills 1

· Clinical Skills 2

· Clinical Skills 3

· Clinical Skills 4

with plans to reorganize the four Clinical Skills components into three Skills and Communication components in 2012. The most substantial difference between the CACO and its predecessor will be found in the Synthesis component. Greater emphasis will be placed on the application of optometric knowledge in the clinical context. Questions in the Synthesis component will all be related to information provided about clinical cases, similar to those previously found within the CSAO’s Clinical Judgement component. This change was made in response to candidates’ and other stakeholders’ requests for the examination to more closely resemble daily practise. In making this change, the CACO will continue to demand that successful registrants have acquired fundamental and current optometric knowledge and are able to readily use their knowledge in the interests of patients. In order for this demand to be made, all of the topics of the Optometric Knowledge component of the CSAO will be eligible to be the subject of questions in the Synthesis component of the CACO.

The Table of Specifications of the CACO has been approved and is available by clicking here. The emphases of each component of the CACO can be better understood by analyzing the proportion of cases and questions assigned to the range of material to be examined. Ultimately, registrants who are able to synthesize their knowledge and clinical experience, able to use their clinical skills to obtain accurate information about patients and apply safe and effective procedures, and able to communicate effectively with patients and colleagues will be successful on the CACO.

Registrants for the CACO will find that the best preparation for the CACO consists of diligent and continuing study, exposure to the broadest possible range of clinical cases usually found in Canadian practices, and interaction with patients.