The Board of Certification/Accreditation, International (BOC), has announced the introduction of a new designation, “Emeritus status,” to recognize former certificants’ years of service, experience, expertise, and quality patient care in O&P. Any BOC-certified practitioner leaving O&P practice with 15 or more years of continuous BOC certification is eligible for self-nomination or nomination by another BOC-certified practitioner.
Nominations for Emeritus status are currently being accepted by the BOC Director of Certification, Jan paul Miller, MA, MEd. Once a nominee’s qualifications are verified by the BOC staff, the Emeritus-elect will be able to use his or her former credential, followed by the word “Emeritus” (e.g. Philip P. Watson, BOCP Emeritus™).
“For some time now, we’ve been thinking through ways to acknowledge the service and hard work of those certificants who are no longer practicing but have served in the industry for many years,” said John Kenney, MURP, BOCO, chairman of BOC’s board of directors. “With the introduction of Emeritus status, we believe we have found a way to thank certificants for their commitment to the profession and to BOC.”
An Emeritus certificant who wishes to return to active status must follow the normal procedures for reinstatement in BOC’s Recertification Policy, according to BOC.
