NOCE / ABO Basic study plan
NOCE / ABO Basic · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Geometric and Physical Optics
Apply Snell's law and refractive index to trace a light ray through a single spherical refracting surface.
Calculate surface power, thin-lens focal length, and vergence using the diopter relationships D = 1/f and D = (n'-n)/r.
Convert between radius of curvature and surface power, and between millimeters and meters, without a reference sheet.
Distinguish real from virtual images and predict image movement for plus versus minus lenses.
Solve prism deviation problems, including Prentice's rule and prism-diopter geometry.
Your checkpoint
Closed-book optics calculation worksheet of 30 problems, scored at 85% or better with all work shown.
Lens Materials, Designs, and Treatments & Ocular Anatomy, Physiology, and Refractive Conditions
Compare CR-39, polycarbonate, Trivex, high-index plastic, and glass on refractive index, Abbe value, impact resistance, and weight.
Select a single-vision, bifocal, or progressive design that matches a stated patient's visual and cosmetic requirements.
Match anti-reflective, photochromic, polarized, and scratch-resistant treatments to written patient scenarios and justify each choice.
Label the major ocular structures and state the refractive or physiological function of each.
Your checkpoint
Twenty-item lens material and design selection case set, with a written justification for every recommendation.
Ocular Anatomy, Physiology, and Refractive Conditions & Prescription Analysis and Lens Power Calculations
Explain accommodation, emmetropization, and the optical mechanism behind myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia.
Interpret every element of a written prescription: sphere, cylinder, axis, add, prism, base curve, and PD.
Transpose sphero-cylinder powers between plus-cylinder and minus-cylinder form and verify each result by cross-checking.
Your checkpoint
Transposition and prescription-interpretation worksheet of 25 items, completed at 90% accuracy.
Prescription Analysis and Lens Power Calculations & Frame Types, Materials, and Frame Measurements
Calculate effective power changes caused by vertex distance and pantoscopic tilt, and explain when compensation is required.
Measure A, B, DBL, temple length, and effective diameter on real frames and convert measurements into boxing-system values.
Calculate minimum blank size and decentration for a given frame, PD, and lens size.
Differentiate frame materials and construction types (zyl, acetate, titanium, stainless, memory metal) and match them to stated patient needs.
Your checkpoint
Frame-measurement lab sheet covering five frames, each fully measured with minimum blank size and decentration shown.
Eyewear Fabrication, Finishing, and Verification & Frame Adjustment, Repair, and Dispensing
Sequence the surfacing, edging, mounting, and final-inspection workflow from lens order to delivered eyewear.
Neutralize finished lenses on a lensometer for sphere, cylinder, axis, prism, add, and optical center location.
Identify and correct common fabrication faults such as axis misalignment, unwanted prism, and base-curve deviation.
Apply ANSI Z80.1 tolerance limits to a mounted pair and state pass or fail for each parameter.
Your checkpoint
Verification checklist applied to three finished pairs, with pass/fail results and the tolerance value cited for each measured parameter.
Frame Adjustment, Repair, and Dispensing & Standards, Safety, and Regulatory Compliance
Adjust vertex distance, pantoscopic tilt, temple bend, and nose pad alignment to achieve a comfortable, optically correct fit.
Diagnose and repair common frame failures, including hinge replacement, solder repair, and nosepiece and temple replacement.
Instruct a simulated patient on adaptation, cleaning, warranty, and return-visit expectations for new eyewear.
Identify which standards and regulations govern impact resistance, lens labeling, and dispensing recordkeeping.
Your checkpoint
Dispensing role-play script plus an adjustment log documenting five fit scenarios, the adjustment performed, and the outcome.
Contact Lens Fundamentals & Patient Service and Optical Business Practices
Summarize contact lens parameters (base curve, diameter, power, Dk/t) and explain care, wearing schedule, and replacement fundamentals.
Explain vision-plan and third-party payer flow, invoice versus retail pricing, and patient confidentiality obligations in the optical office.
Re-drill the two lowest-scoring domains from earlier milestones using timed question sets.
Your checkpoint
Timed 40-question mixed set with an error log listing the root cause of each missed item.
Ocular Anatomy, Physiology, and Refractive Conditions & Geometric and Physical Optics & Prescription Analysis and Lens Power Calculations & Lens Materials, Designs, and Treatments & Frame Types, Materials, and Frame Measurements & Eyewear Fabrication, Finishing, and Verification & Frame Adjustment, Repair, and Dispensing & Standards, Safety, and Regulatory Compliance & Contact Lens Fundamentals & Patient Service and Optical Business Practices
Reconstruct a one-page formula, tolerance, and standards sheet from memory, then check it against your source notes.
Complete two full-length timed practice exams under test-day conditions.
Trace each missed item to a root cause and re-teach any domain still scoring below 80%.
Your checkpoint
Two completed full-length practice exams at 80% or higher overall, with written remediation notes for every miss.
Milestones
Week 2: Score 85% or better on the optics worksheet and correctly justify at least 17 of 20 material and design selections.
Week 4: Transpose and interpret 25 prescriptions at 90% accuracy and complete all five frame measurements with correct minimum blank size and decentration.
Week 6: Neutralize three mounted pairs on the lensometer, apply ANSI Z80.1 tolerances correctly, and pass all five simulated dispensing fit scenarios.
Week 8: Score 80% or higher on two full-length timed practice exams, with every missed item logged to a root cause and remediated.