Preparing for the Exam
Exam Overview
The OEBC Exam includes two components: a written case‑based assessment, and an OSCE that evaluates clinical decision‑making in realistic clinical scenarios. This overview outlines the structure of the exam, what each component assesses, and how they work together.
A set of core resources is available to help you understand exam expectations, plan your preparation, and practise skills relevant to both components. Additional sections provide guidance specific to the Written Exam and the OSCE.
This table, provided by FORAC, helps you understand national practice expectations, and how OEBC Exam cases are designed to reflect safe, entry-to-practice optometry across Canada.
This fillable planner helps you organize your studying, set priorities, and plan your preparation based on your individual needs and progress.
This tool helps you practise clinical reasoning, problem solving, and exam-style thinking, using scenarios aligned with OEBC competencies and the exam blueprint.
Note on the use of AI: AI-based study tools are intended solely to support learning and practise. They do not provide official exam content, and should not be relied on as an authoritative source. Candidates are expected to use AI responsibly and in accordance with professional and regulatory expectations.
Reference: FORAC/FAROC Position Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Optometrists
Preparing for the Written Component
The resources below focus on the format, content, and practical skills assessed in the Written Exam and are intended to support effective exam‑day preparation.
This guide helps you understand the Written Exam format, how questions are structured, and how your responses are assessed.
These instructions help you know exactly what to expect when writing the Written Exam remotely, and avoid technical or procedural issues on exam day.
These sample cases help you see how clinical knowledge is applied in Written Exam scenarios, and how questions are framed.
This allows you to practice answering Written Exam questions under exam-like conditions, and assess your readiness.
Note: Candidates are automatically registered for the practice exam at no extra cost upon registering for the Written Exam. Before the practice exam, candidates will be emailed an individual link to access the online testing platform. The link is ONLY accessible to the intended candidate; it is not transferable. The practice exam will be available for a period of two weeks, and candidates can attempt the exam once during that time.
This resource helps you practice clinical reasoning, problem-solving, and exam-style thinking for the Written Exam using AI-supported study prompts aligned with OEBC’s competencies.
Note on the use of AI: AI-based study tools are intended solely to support learning and practice. They do not provide official exam content, and should not be relied on as an authoritative source. Candidates are expected to use AI responsibly and in accordance with professional and regulatory expectations.
Reference: FORAC/FAROC Position Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Optometrists
Preparing for the OSCE Component
The resources below are provided to help you understand OSCE assessment criteria, practice clinical scenarios, and become familiar with the structure of OSCE stations and exam‑day processes.
This guide helps you understand how OSCE stations are structured, what examiners are assessing, and how performance in evaluated.
This list helps you become familiar with the optometry equipment you may be expected to use during the OSCE.
This guide helps you understand how your performance is assessed, including the quality, safety, and effectiveness of your clinical interactions and technical task execution across OSCE stations.
This sample case helps you understand how an OSCE case may be structured so you can practice organizing your approach under exam-like conditions.
These additional OSCE preparation tools help you practice building and working through OSCE-style cases, including using templates, to structure your clinical thinking.
This resource helps you practice clinical reasoning, problem-solving, and exam-style thinking for the OSCE using AI-supported study prompts aligned with OEBC competencies.
Note on the use of AI: AI-based study tools are intended solely to support learning and practice. They do not provide official exam content, and should not be relied on as an authoritative source. Candidates are expected to use AI responsibly and in accordance with professional and regulatory expectations.
Reference: FORAC/FAROC Position Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Optometrists
This OSCE administration overview video* helps you understand the overall OSCE administration process, so you know what to expect on exam day.
This OSCE station overview video helps you visualize how an interactive OSCE station may unfold, including timing, examiner interaction, and task flow.
*Note: this video reflects a previous OSCE model. The current OSCE consists of 12 stations, including 8 interactive clinical scenarios, and 4 integrated skills assessments. The current OSCE design is outlined in the Candidate Guide and Exam Blueprint.
To assist in your preparation, we asked our examiners for their advice.
Optometrists develop the content for OEBC exam components, and psychometricians ensure each test item’s validity. The examiners for the OSCE are volunteer optometrists.
To set standards for its Written Exam, OEBC uses the Angoff method, the best practice for static assessments. For its OSCE, OEBC uses borderline regression, the best method to set the standards for dynamic exams.