NBEO Part III case studies
NBEO Part III · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Part III of the NBEO series is the Clinical Skills Examination (CSE), the performance-based stage of optometric licensure in the United States. Where the earlier computer-based parts test knowledge, Part III asks you to demonstrate it: you rotate through timed stations and perform procedures on standardized patients, instruments, and clinical models while examiners score your technique, sequencing, and communication. It is intended for candidates who have completed the didactic and clinical coursework required by their program and are moving toward licensure; state boards look to the full NBEO sequence, so confirm your jurisdiction's requirements. The stations span the clinical domains you use daily: history taking, acuity and refraction, binocular and motility testing, slit lamp and anterior segment evaluation, fundoscopy, tonometry and glaucoma assessment, visual fields, contact lens fitting and evaluation, lensometry and optics, pharmacology, and professionalism and safety. The NBEO Part III case studies are 5 cases and about 3,026 words.
1Recurrent curtain over the right eye in a 64-year-old
R is a 64-year-old retired teacher with a 12-year history of hypertension and a 30-pack-year smoking history. He schedules a routine contact lens follow-up and mentions, almost in passing, that twice this week a gray curtain descended over his right eye for 4–6 minutes before clearing completely.
648 words, about 3 min2A 6-year-old with reduced left-eye acuity and a small esotropia
A 6-year-old girl is brought by her mother after a school screening flagged the left eye. She has no eye complaints and enjoys looking at picture books.
603 words, about 3 min3Intermittent exotropia affecting baseball performance
A 9-year-old boy is brought because his parents notice his right eye drifting outward when he is tired or watching television. He sometimes closes one eye in bright sunlight, but he denies double vision.
610 words, about 3 min4Elevated IOP, thin corneas, and a family history of glaucoma
A 58-year-old woman presents for a routine eye examination. Her mother became blind from glaucoma, and she is anxious about her own risk.
586 words, about 3 min5Keratoconus, astigmatism, and a dusty workplace
A 32-year-old man with keratoconus wants contact lenses because spectacles no longer give acceptable vision. He works as a carpenter and is often in a dusty shop.
579 words, about 3 min