How To Practice for NBEO Part III While on Rotations
Practicing for NBEO ® Part III seems very easy at first thought. Once you get into rotations, you will notice things beginning to change. Your preceptors may do things a certain way and expect you to follow suit. Equipment can also be dramatically different. You may be so used to a certain manual phoropter, and now you have to use a brand new automated one. You also may encounter slit lamps older than you are, and be expected to use them properly without fumbling in front of the patient.
These types of anomalies can make practicing for NBEO ® Part III very difficult. When things are not standardized, it’s easy to fall out of your “groove”, right when you thought you had everything down. You may be lucky enough to have rotations close to your school so that you can practice, or you may be hundreds of miles away. Whether you’re able to practice in your environment of choice or you’re at a site where things are completely different, the best way to study is to rehearse with the outline.
The NBEO Part III Outline is available to everybody. It really does go step by step on all of the points you need to cover in order to pass. This exam is all about structure and safety, so verbalizing everything that you’re doing and/or saying will help you with points. A good general rule of thumb is to verbalize everything, even if it feels strange. It may seem silly, but is the best place to start!
Start off by reading the outline and getting familiar with the flow of the exam. Also, take some time to understand and dissect the stations and which clinical skills are assessed at each station, because you may be asked to go out of order. As you read through the outline, actively plan out what you will be saying and verbalizing. For example, you must comment on layers of the cornea individually, so get used to saying “Corneal epithelium, stroma, and endothelium are all clear”, rather than “the cornea is clear”. Getting used to the verbiage will help you develop a flow and not miss things. Go down the list and perhaps write your own script, using your planned verbiage that you need to remember. Doing this a number of times and rehearsing in your head is the best place to start. It’s also a good idea to “pretend” and have a friend grade you based on your script. Always remember that though this is a test of your clinical skills, most people lose points based off of things they skip or don’t verbalize, rather than incorrectly performing the clinical skill.
You’ve made it this far, and of course you know how to do everything! Now it’s time to prepare one last time for practicing in the real world!