ABO stands for American Board of Opticianry. It’s composed of several certified opticians who work with spectacles. On the other hand, NCLE is the National Contact Lens Examiner. This organization is the one that provides the certifications for ophthalmic dispensers. They’re both non-profit organizations. The whole point of the collaboration for the exam is to certify further opticians and help them earn their licenses.
So you are vying for a career as an optician? One of the first steps you must take is to gain certification by ABO or NCLE. ABO and NCLE are both non-profit organizations that dispense certificates for ophthalmic dispensers.
Certification can be beneficial to your career. Getting certified will increase your employment opportunities, as potential employers will see the certification as a standard of competence. A certification will also show the public that you are qualified to be trusted with their eyes’ needs.
To obtain a certification, however, you must pass the ABO-NCLE exam. In this article, we will discuss how best to prepare for this exam so that you can go and get that certification and start your career as an optician!
What is the ABO-NCLE Test?
What is the ABO-NCLE Test?So what is the ABO optician test? The ABO and NCLE exams test you on the skills and knowledge you require for providing contact lens, spectacle, and refraction services. The ABO-NCLE basic certification is considered a starting point for those looking to start practicing Opticianry. This can be obtained by giving the ABO-NCLE basic test. You can gain an advanced certification by providing the ABO-NCLE advanced test, which tests you on the progressive understanding required for ophthalmic dispensing.
To take the exam, you must be 18 or older and have acquired either a GED equivalent or a high school diploma.
How Many Questions are on the NCLE?
For the basic NCLE exam, you will have to answer 125 questions of varying difficulty in two and a half hours. The exam will test you on the skills and knowledge required for ophthalmic dispensing, from fundamental questions anyone vying to be in the field can answer to, well, crazy difficult questions.
The exam is structured, so you do not simply have to regurgitate information. Instead, the questions will test you on your learned technical knowledge and how well you can relate it to real-life situations.
The types of questions can be loosely classified into three categories:
- Questions will ask you to choose the correct response from the four choices.
- Questions will ask you to comprehend, then apply the information supplied in the question.
- Questions will ask you to understand, then reorganize the information provided to make the correct choice.
To pass the ABO-NCLE exam, you must get a scaled score of 70% or higher.
How to Prepare for the ABO-NCLE Exam?
So you have decided to take the first step in a career as an optician and want to give the ABO-NCLE exam? The first step in preparing for such an exam is acquiring the study materials. The ABO-NCLE website outlines how they structure their exams and what areas you should focus on during your preparation. You can find both paid and free ABO-NCLE study materials.
The ABO-NCLE website has a set of review courses that can get you started with your preparation. You can find these at the ABO-NCLE website. These paid resources include a collection of tutorials, review books, and DVDs which can help you get started with your preparation.
You can find a free ABO exam study guide at Optician Works, which nicely covers all the topics.
Aside from these, several companies have test-prep manuals, which you can utilize. However, note that these test-prep manuals usually are tailored to give you enough information to just pass the test. If you want to increase your chances of passing, we recommend you study beyond the basics and not stick to a single study manual.
A few recommended resources which will help get you over the line are:
- “Introduction to Basic Optical Principles National Opticianry Certification Exam Preparation Basic Certification” – Carrie Wilson’s
- “Pure Optics”- Phernell Walker’s
- Finally, Sam Winnegard’s YouTube page called “NCLE Contact Lens Training” is also an excellent online resource. Over there, he elegantly explains the complicated concepts and techniques.
7 ABO-NCLE Test Taking Tips
There are various ways to learn how to study for ABO-NCLE test. Our top tips are mentioned below.
Making a timetable
Before getting bogged down in studying, arranging your free ABO-NCLE study materials and creating a manageable work schedule is critical. Once you’ve decided general time frame for taking the exam, go over the study materials and figure out how much time you’ll need to devote to each topic. Depending on the difficulty of a specific topic, you may need to set aside more or less time for it. It is essential to know beforehand what issues you must go over and which require relatively more time.
Set up a specific time each day to review the study materials, and ensure you leave enough time to practice questions once you’ve gone over everything.
Going about your preparation in a systematic and organized manner will ensure that you consistently cover a portion of the topics daily. You are not left scrambling for time with too much to cover as the test approaches.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
Once you go over all the material, you must learn how to apply it. ABO practice tests give you the chance to do so. In almost every study manual or resource you can use, you will be able to find pertinent study questions at the end of each chapter or at the end of the book.
You can also find ABO and NCLE practical exams here, where thousands of questions are available. Here, you have the choice to view the answers and discover why a particular answer is correct or why a specific solution is wrong. Reading these explanations can help you consolidate your understanding of the concepts and help you recognize flaws in your knowledge.
We recommend you leave ample time at the end of your schedule just for practice. Attempting practice tests will help you familiarize yourself with the test format and give you a gauge of what to expect in the exam. Practice tests are also a great way to pinpoint gaps in your knowledge, which you can work on before the test.
Visualization
Visualization is a valuable exercise to test your concepts for a given question. Try closing your eyes and picturing the problem in your mind. Visualizing the possible solutions can help you connect the ideas you have learned to their applications.
Draw it out!
Sometimes, the best way to understand a problem is to have its replica in front of your eyes. To that end, draw the problem out in front of you. For the prism questions, for instance, if you do not draw the situation in front of you, you will have difficulty going about it.
Figure out what works for you!
Different people have different learning styles. If you take this exam with peers, you might be inclined to study in a group. This may or may not work for you. Figure out which set of conditions is most productive for you! If this is with your peers in a café, go for it; if it is by yourself alone in your room, so be it. Optimize your own learning!
Plan the day of the test
As the test approaches, it is natural to be nervous, regardless of how good your preparation is. One way to avoid the pre-exam jitters is to plan out the day of your exam. Set a bedtime for the night before, so you have a night of ample sleep. Have a healthy, vitamin-rich breakfast that improves your concentration and memory. Try to avoid cramming last-minute information. You have worked very hard over the past few months and know enough to get over the line.
Be confident
Your test is in a few days. You have thoroughly covered the material once, then one more time for good measure. You have done so many practice questions. You’ve lost count. You were nervous about your mastery of lens forms. Still, through rigorous practice and revisitation, you cannot get a single question wrong. Following our tips, you can be assured you are well prepared for the exam and attempt it with a deserved, calm confidence.
Wrapping Things Up: How to Study for ABO-NCLE Test?
As formidable as the task seems, we hope that with our tips, you can cruise through the exam and get the certification that will serve as the starting point in your career as an optician.
To summarize, preview the topics and create a study schedule to follow. To simplify, use multiple resources and cover all the issues outlined in the ABO-NCLE exam guide. Efficiently use the resources at your disposal and get plenty of practice. This will help you recognize and fix shortcomings in your preparation.
Find out what study method works best for you and stick to it. Having thoroughly prepared for your test, attempt it confidently, and it will be improbable that you fall short.
