Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
(1) Licensure
Examination. The licensure examination authorized in Section
463.006(2),
F.S., shall consist of the following parts:
(a) The Patient Assessment and Management
(PAM) portion of the examination developed by the National Board of Examiners
in Optometry (NBEO) as Part II of its examination which includes an embedded
Treatment and Management of Ocular Disease (TMOD) examination. An applicant for
licensure in Florida must obtain a passing score on the TMOD section of the
examination as well as an overall passing score on the examination.
(b) The Clinical Skills (CSE) portion of the
examination developed by the NBEO as Part III of its examination.
(c) A written examination on applicable
Florida laws and rules governing the practice of optometry developed yearly by
Florida Board of Optometry approved consultants, and administered by NBEO as
Part IV of its examination. The Board shall review and approve the content of
the laws and rules examination annually. A score of eighty-four percent (84%)
or better must be obtained in order to achieve a passing score on Part IV of
the NBEO examination.
(d) The
Florida Practical Examination. The Florida Practical Examination shall be
developed by consultants approved by the Florida Board of Optometry in
conjunction with the NBEO, and shall be administered by the NBEO as part of the
NBEO National Clinical Skills examination.
1.
Examiners for the Florida Practical Examination, and the grading criteria to be
used by the examiners, shall be those selected by the NBEO to examine and grade
the NBEO CSE.
2. The Florida
Practical Examination shall include the following tested skills.
a. Biomicroscopy
b. Binocular Indirect
Ophthalmoscopy
c. Dilated
Biomicroscopy and Non-Contact Fundus Lens Evaluation
d. Gonioscopy
e.
Tonometry
(2) Passing Scores.
(a) An applicant for licensure must achieve a
passing score on all four (4) parts of the licensure examination in order to be
licensed in Florida. The passing score for the Florida Laws and Rules
examination is as set by the Board in this rule. Passing scores for the Patient
Assessment and Management portion and the Clinical Skills portion of the NBEO
licensure examination are established by the NBEO.
(b)
1.
Pursuant to Section 463.006(3),
F.S., the Board will accept passing scores obtained on any part of the
licensure examination obtained within the three (3) year period immediately
preceding application for licensure or within the three (3) year period
following submission of an application for licensure in Florida. Scores
obtained on any part of the licensure examination obtained more than three (3)
years immediately preceding application or more than three (3) years following
the date of submission of an application for Florida licensure will not be
accepted.
2. Pursuant to Section
120.60(1),
F.S., the Board's approval of an application will not result in issuance of a
license until passing scores on all parts of the Florida licensure examination
are achieved.
3. If an applicant
fails to achieve passing scores on all parts of the Florida licensure
examination within the time period specified above, the Board shall not certify
the applicant to the Department and the applicant shall not be issued a Florida
license based upon the approved application; to achieve licensure, the
applicant must re-apply and meet all then-current licensing
requirements.
(c)
Pursuant to Rule 64B13-4.004, F.A.C., an
application for licensure will not be deemed complete until an applicant
demonstrates graduation from a Board approved school or college of optometry as
specified in subsection
64B13-4.004(2),
F.A.C.; incomplete applications expire one (1) year after initial
filing.
(3) Certification
Examination. A licensee applying for certification must obtain a passing score
on either the TMOD examination embedded in the Patient Assessment and
Management portion of the examination developed and administered by the NBEO or
a passing score on the stand alone TMOD examination developed and administered
by the NBEO.
Rulemaking Authority 456.017(1), 463.005, 463.006(2) FS.
Law Implemented 456.013, 456.017(1), 463.006(2), (3)
FS.
New 11-13-79, Amended 5-28-80, 7-10-80, 8-20-81, 2-14-82,
6-6-82, 10-3-82, 4-10-84, 5-29-85, Formerly 21Q-4.01, Amended 7-21-86,
11-20-86, 7-27-87, 7-11-88, 7-18-91, 4-14-92, Formerly 21Q-4.001, Amended
2-14-94, Formerly 61F8-4.001, Amended 8-8-94, 11-21-94, 4-21-96, Formerly
59V-4.001, Amended 7-27-99, 7-15-02, 3-8-04, 4-22-10, 10-13-10, 7-21-11,
6-5-12, 2-27-14, 11-5-14, 9-30-15, 9-7-17, 1-24-18, 10-2-18,
3-31-22.
