Procedural aspects of the organization of the comprehensive European Board of Ophthalmology Diploma examination

Abstract

The comprehensive European Board of Ophthalmology Diploma (EBOD) examination is one of 38 European medical specialty examinations. This review aims at disclosing the specific procedures and content of the EBOD examination. It is a descriptive study summarizing the present organization of the EBOD examination. It is the 3rd largest European postgraduate medical assessment after anaesthesiology and cardiology. The master language is English for the Part 1 written test (knowledge test with 52 modified type X multiple-choice questions) (in the past the written test was also available in French and German). Ophthalmology training of minimum 4 years in a full or associated European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) member state is a prerequisite. Problem-solving skills are tested in the Part 2 oral assessment, which is a viva of 4 subjects conducted in English with support for native language whenever feasible. The comprehensive EBOD examination is one of the leading examinations organized by UEMS European Boards or Specialist Sections from the point of number of examinees, item banking, and item contents.

Keywords: Disclosure; Europe; Language; Ophthalmology; Specialization.

Fig. 1.

Example of the answer sheet for Part 1 of the comprehensive European Board of Ophthalmology Diploma examination where judgment is needed for each item (items displayed at the top end of the answer sheet) of any multiple-choice question (question numbers displayed at the left side of the answer sheet), whether the statement is true (T), false (F) or they don’t know the answer (D).