Follow this guide to learn how to complete your application for Fellowship in the Canadian College of Specialties in Optometry. Completion of these requirements allows you to use the title FCCSO. To receive your CCSO Fellowship, complete the following steps in order:

  1. Complete the Fellowship Application Form and pay the $125 application fee. Please specify whether you are applying as a clinician (practitioner who sees patients) or as a non-clinician.
  2. Submit a minimum of three (3) case reports for review by the CCSO Fellowship Review Panel. All case reports must follow the Canadian Journal of Optometry (CJO) Authors Guideline to ensure that the case reports are of a publishable quality. We ask that you submit your first case report to the CCSO Fellowship Review Panel for valuable feedback before submitting the rest of your reports.
    • Please refer to the Case Report Guideline and the CJO Submissions Guidline for instructions on how to prepare publishable quality case reports. Please also review previously published issues of the CJO to review journal writing best practices, and gain insights to optimize the preparation of your case reports – link here:  Canadian Journal of Optometry – Issues 
    • Submission and acceptance of these case reports is considered a mandatory requirement for all clinicians or practitioners who see patients; however, this requirement is waived for non-clinician and non-optometrist applicants.
  3. Submit all other (non-mandatory) Fellowship Activities to earn the minimum 100 points required to process your application. Additional details on these other activities is listed in the Fellowship Points Guide. The CCSO Fellowship Panel will review all submitted activities and report back to the applicant on whether they have been accepted.
  4. Once all Fellowship requirements have been met, the CCSO will contact you to schedule your mandatory Oral Exam. Additional details on Oral Exams are listed in the CCSO Oral Exam Guide.

Should you require any additional assistance with any step in this process, please contact the CCSO office.