EBO exam questions: free EBOD practice MCQs with answers

EBO practice questions with answers

Free EBOD practice questions from OphthoMentor's public library, drawn from across the 13 BCSC subspecialties. Pick an answer to see whether it is right, then read the explanation; each question links to its own page. Every item is original and written for the single-best-answer half of Part I; none is an EBO past-paper question.

Looking for the format, dates and fees first? Skip to the EBO exam guide.

1. Question 1 · General medicine

   Multicenter trial compares a new intravitreal drug

   A multicenter trial compares a new intravitreal drug with sham injection for diabetic macular edema. The primary outcome is central subfield thickness on optical coherence tomography, measured to a standardized protocol by a retina specialist at each site, who corrects segmentation errors by hand. Allocation was computer generated and concealed. Because the sham procedure differs visibly from an injection, the site specialists know which patients received the drug, and most expect it to work. Which design change would best reduce the bias that threatens this outcome measurement?

   • AEnlarge the sample to give 90% power
   • BMask graders to the assigned treatment
   • CStratify randomization by baseline thickness
   • DLower the alpha threshold to .01

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: B. Mask graders to the assigned treatment

   A grader who knows the allocation and expects a different result in the treated group may, consciously or not, adjust the measurement, including manual segmentation corrections, to match that expectation. This is investigator bias. Keeping the outcome assessor unaware of each patient's treatment removes that pathway, which is why high-quality trials mask participants, treating clinicians and evaluators. A common measurement protocol reduces variability but cannot stop expectation from shading the readings. The Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study combined standardized pressure checks with a masked observer and recorder and repeated testing.

   Clinical pearl: For a surgical trial to be reproducible, it should describe every step of the operation, train surgeons before enrollment and standardize postoperative care, so that only the intervention differs.

2. Question 2 · Fundamentals

   What miswiring produces these movements of the left eye?

   Parents notice an eye turn in their 3-year-old daughter when she is tired. Her left eye cannot be abducted past the midline. On attempted adduction of that eye the palpebral fissure narrows and the globe moves back into the orbit. The fissure widens again on attempted abduction and does not change with chewing. Pupils are equal and reactive, the lids sit level in primary gaze, and she adopts a face turn to the left. What miswiring produces these movements of the left eye?

   • Atrigeminal motor fibers reaching the levator palpebrae muscle
   • Boculomotor axons misdirected to the levator palpebrae muscle
   • Cabducens axons innervating the medial rectus muscle
   • Doculomotor axons innervating the lateral rectus muscle

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: D. oculomotor axons innervating the lateral rectus muscle

   In Duane syndrome the lateral rectus receives fibers from the oculomotor nerve in place of normal abducens input, because the abducens nerve fails to develop or reach the muscle, leaving it open to oculomotor branches. When the eye is directed inward, the lateral rectus therefore fires together with the medial rectus. The two horizontal muscles pull against each other, drawing the globe back into the orbit and narrowing the fissure, while abduction fails because the lateral rectus has no independent drive. Despite a severe abduction deficit, the eyes are often straight or only slightly esotropic in primary position, with a small face turn. The tight co-contracting lateral rectus can also slip over the globe on adduction, producing an upshoot or downshoot.

   Clinical pearl: Duane syndrome is grouped with Möbius syndrome, Marcus Gunn jaw-winking syndrome and congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles among the congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders.

3. Question 3 · Clinical optics

   Mechanism: Treated through a 6.5 mm optical zone

   Twelve years after laser in-situ keratomileusis for −6.00 D of myopia, treated through a 6.5 mm optical zone, a 55-year-old woman has a nuclear cataract. Her tear film is stable and the ocular surface healthy. Standard keratometry, converting the anterior surface reading with the usual index, gives a corneal power of 38.20 D. Tomography measuring both corneal surfaces gives a total corneal power of 36.90 D in the same eye, and both devices repeat closely. Which mechanism explains the difference between these measurements?

   • APosterior corneal astigmatism omitted from the calculation
   • BAblation altered the anterior-to-posterior curvature relationship
   • CKeratometry sampled the cornea lying outside the treated optical zone
   • DAn unstable tear film made the anterior keratometric readings vary

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: B. Ablation altered the anterior-to-posterior curvature relationship

   A keratometer measures only the front surface and converts its curvature into total corneal power with a single refractive index, which works because the back surface normally bears a fixed proportion to the front. Laser treatment reshapes the anterior cornea and leaves the posterior surface essentially as it was, so the standard index of 1.3375 no longer estimates total power correctly. A device that measures both surfaces is not bound by that assumption. After myopic ablation the unadjusted keratometric reading therefore overestimates corneal power, as it does in her eye. Lens power formulas that use the measured posterior surface, such as those based on optical coherence tomography, therefore predict the refraction better in these eyes.

   Clinical pearl: Ask any patient with an unexpectedly flat or steep cornea about previous refractive surgery, because an undisclosed laser treatment changes the whole calculation pathway.

4. Question 4 · Pathology & tumors

   Excised scaly papule from sun-damaged lower eyelid skin

   An excised scaly papule from sun-damaged lower eyelid skin shows hyperkeratosis with parakeratosis, loss of the granular layer, scattered dyskeratotic cells and nuclear atypia rising from the basal layer through most of the epidermis, above clumped, basophilic dermal elastic fibers. Which additional finding would establish invasive squamous cell carcinoma?

   • AAtypical keratinocytes crossing the epidermal basement membrane
   • BAtypical keratinocytes replacing the full epidermal thickness
   • CChronic inflammatory cells massed in the superficial dermis
   • DMitotic figures scattered well above the basal epithelial layer

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: A. Atypical keratinocytes crossing the epidermal basement membrane

   Hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis, granular layer loss, dyskeratosis and atypia spreading upward from the basal layer over solar elastosis indicate an actinic keratosis. Its atypia ranges from mild basal change to full-thickness carcinoma in situ, but stays within the epidermis. Squamous cell carcinoma is defined by invasion through the epidermal basement membrane, so the pathologist must examine the base of the lesion. A single lesion rarely progresses, well under 1% a year, although the risk rises with many lesions and with immunosuppression, and carcinoma arising this way seldom metastasizes. The same rule holds on the conjunctiva, where partial-thickness atypia is dysplasia and full-thickness atypia carcinoma in situ, and only cells crossing the basement membrane into the stroma reach vessels and lymphatics.

   Clinical pearl: A cutaneous horn is a shape, not a diagnosis: the lesion at its base, which may be a hyperkeratotic actinic keratosis, decides the histology.

5. Question 5 · Neuro-ophthalmology

   Man diagnosed ten weeks ago with an acute right facial palsy

   A man diagnosed ten weeks ago with an acute right facial palsy and given oral corticosteroids has instead worsened week by week for six weeks. The palsy is now complete, taking brow, lid, and mouth. Taste, hearing, ear, palate, other cranial nerves, and limbs are normal. What should be requested for him at this point?

   • AElectrodiagnostic testing of the affected right facial nerve
   • BMagnetic resonance imaging of the facial nerve
   • CComputed tomography of the temporal bone
   • DSerum testing for infection and sarcoidosis

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: B. Magnetic resonance imaging of the facial nerve

   Idiopathic facial palsy reaches its worst within days and should not still be deepening after about three weeks. Continued progression means the label is abandoned and the nerve is imaged with contrast along its whole course, from the brainstem through the internal auditory canal and temporal bone to the parotid, because neoplastic infiltration, granulomatous inflammation, and chronic infection behave this way and each needs specific treatment. Peripheral facial weakness has a long differential, including infection, diabetes, inflammatory neuropathy, vasculitis, neoplasm, intrinsic pontine disease, trauma and, rarely and only by exclusion, raised intracranial pressure. Treating the wrong diagnosis loses time. No recovery by about 3 months, bilateral or recurrent palsy and involvement of other cranial nerves are further warning signs. Tumors along the nerve, such as facial nerve schwannoma or a parotid neoplasm, typically cause gradual weakness.

   Clinical pearl: A presumed Bell palsy that is still worsening after three weeks needs contrast magnetic resonance imaging along the whole course of the facial nerve to look for tumor.

6. Question 6 · Pediatrics & strabismus

   Which storage disorder fits this picture?

   A 7-year-old girl developed normally until 3, then lost speech, became hyperactive and aggressive and has declined in learning. She has a large head, coarse hair and excess body hair, but her height is on the 40th centile, her joints move fully and a skeletal survey shows only mild changes. She stumbles in dim light. The corneas are clear, the fundi show mid-peripheral pigmentary changes and electroretinography is markedly reduced. Which storage disorder fits this picture?

   • ASanfilippo syndrome (MPS III)
   • BScheie syndrome (attenuated MPS I)
   • CMorquio syndrome (MPS IV)
   • DMaroteaux–Lamy syndrome (MPS VI)

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: A. Sanfilippo syndrome (MPS III)

   Severe neurodegeneration after a period of normal early development, with behavioural disturbance out of proportion to mild somatic and skeletal change, characterises Sanfilippo syndrome, in which heparan sulfate accumulates. The cornea typically stays clear, while a moderate to severe pigmentary retinopathy with electroretinographic change is prominent, which accounts for her difficulty in dim light. The attenuated MPS I phenotype and MPS VI preserve intelligence but cloud the cornea, and Morquio syndrome is defined by its skeletal disease. Retinal examination therefore matters as much as the cornea in these children.

   Clinical pearl: In a child with a mucopolysaccharidosis whose corneas are clear but who struggles in dim light, look for pigmentary retinopathy, which is prominent in MPS III.

7. Question 7 · Oculoplastics

   How should care proceed now that the diagnosis is confirmed?

   Lacrimal gland biopsy shows low-grade extranodal marginal zone lymphoma, orbital MRI shows the lesion confined to the lacrimal fossa, and there is no palpable preauricular or cervical lymphadenopathy. How should care proceed now that the diagnosis is confirmed?

   • AComplete systemic staging with nodal and marrow assessment
   • BTreat the orbital lesion with local radiotherapy straight away
   • CContinue clinical monitoring and defer systemic investigations
   • DReserve nodal biopsy for future palpable adenopathy

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: A. Complete systemic staging with nodal and marrow assessment

   Normal orbital imaging margins and an unremarkable node examination do not exclude disease elsewhere, so every patient with a hypercellular orbital lymphoid lesion is referred to an oncologist for staging. Depending on histology, this includes physical examination, complete blood count, bone marrow biopsy, CT or MRI, PET scanning and serum immunoprotein electrophoresis. A plasma cell–rich lesion likewise needs hematologic work-up to exclude multiple myeloma, particularly when bone is destroyed. The result determines whether orbital radiotherapy, which gives good outcomes for localized marginal zone lymphoma, is sufficient or systemic treatment is needed. Lymphoma is found at other sites, at diagnosis or later, in up to about a third of patients with ocular adnexal marginal zone lymphoma.

   Clinical pearl: Systemic lymphoma can appear many years after an apparently isolated orbital lymphoid lesion, so patients need periodic re-examination long after treatment.

8. Question 8 · Cornea & external disease

   Mechanism: Epithelium-off cross-linking

   Six weeks after epithelium-off cross-linking given as the conventional exposure on a stromal bed that measured 360 µm after debridement, a 26-year-old woman has blurred vision and haloes. The cornea is diffusely oedematous with folds in Descemet membrane, no infiltrate and a quiet anterior chamber without keratic precipitates. Intraocular pressure is 14 mmHg, and specular microscopy shows reduced cell density with polymegethism and no guttae. Which mechanism best explains the persistent oedema?

   • AUnrecognised Fuchs dystrophy decompensating after the surgical insult
   • BUltraviolet endothelial injury from a thin stromal bed
   • CRaised intraocular pressure from the postoperative topical corticosteroid
   • DHerpes simplex endotheliitis emerging after the corneal procedure

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: B. Ultraviolet endothelial injury from a thin stromal bed

   Riboflavin-soaked stroma absorbs most of the ultraviolet-A within its anterior stroma, so the depth of loaded tissue shields the endothelium. Standard epithelium-off treatment therefore needs at least 400 µm of stroma after debridement. Irradiating 360 µm let a cytotoxic dose through, and the resulting cell loss explains persistent diffuse oedema with polymegethism but no guttae. A thinner cornea needs a modified protocol, for example a contact lens soaked in riboflavin or a shorter exposure, rather than standard treatment. Normal pressure, absent guttae and a quiet chamber without precipitates exclude a steroid response, Fuchs dystrophy and herpetic endotheliitis.

   Clinical pearl: Measure stromal thickness after debridement and before irradiation, and use a modified protocol for a cornea below 400 µm, such as swelling it with hypotonic riboflavin, rather than treating it as it stands.

9. Question 9 · Uveitis

   Diagnosis: 27-year-old man has had three attacks

   Born in Turkey, a 27-year-old man has had three attacks of sudden blurred vision, in alternating eyes, over eighteen months. The right eye is barely injected but has a hypopyon, 2+ vitreous cells, and sheathed retinal veins with intraretinal hemorrhages and white retinal infiltrates. He has painful mouth ulcers several times a year and acne-like pustules on his chest. Which allele would tissue typing most likely show, in keeping with his disease?

   • AHLA-B51
   • BHLA-B27
   • CHLA-B44
   • DHLA-B8

   Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

   Answer: A. HLA-B51

   Recurrent hypopyon uveitis in a relatively white eye, occlusive retinal vasculitis with infiltrates, recurrent oral aphthae and pustular skin lesions in a young man from Turkey indicate Behçet disease. Its principal HLA association is HLA-B51, with a relative risk of about 4 to 6, and HLA-A26 is an independent susceptibility allele, linked to ocular disease in some Asian cohorts. The B51 link is strongest along the ancient Silk Road, where both the disease and B51 carriage are commoner. The allele is supportive only and is not a classification criterion.

   Clinical pearl: A negative HLA-B51 result does not exclude Behçet disease, whose diagnosis stays clinical.

10. Question 10 · Glaucoma

    Raised pressure on steroid: management

    A dull ache and rings around lights at night trouble a 58-year-old man three weeks after laser in situ keratomileusis for high myopia. He is still using a topical corticosteroid prescribed for interface haze. A shallow optically clear cleft lies within the interface with surrounding stromal haze, the anterior chamber is quiet, and the cup-disc ratio is 0.7 in each eye. Central Goldmann applanation reads 9 mmHg over a thin flattened cornea. Which approach best establishes the true intraocular pressure?

    • ARepeat central Goldmann applanation once the interface haze settles
    • BCorrect the central Goldmann reading with a pachymetry nomogram
    • CApplanate both centrally and peripherally, away from the fluid
    • DMeasure centrally with a handheld Perkins applanation tonometer

    Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

    Answer: C. Applanate both centrally and peripherally, away from the fluid

    Raised pressure on steroid has pushed fluid into the flap interface, the picture of pressure-induced stromal keratopathy, which typically appears 10 to 14 days after surgery and is easily mistaken for diffuse lamellar keratitis. Applanation over the cleft measures the fluid pocket rather than the eye, so the central value can be falsely low. Pressure should be taken both centrally and peripherally, and with a pneumotonometer or Tono-Pen away from the flap where available. High-resolution anterior segment OCT helps confirm the interface fluid. A pachymetry correction does not account for a fluid layer, and delay has led to severe glaucomatous loss.

    Clinical pearl: When interface haze appears 10 to 14 days after laser in situ keratomileusis on steroid, add peripheral and non-Goldmann readings to central applanation, because a fluid cleft falsely lowers the central value.

11. Question 11 · Lens & cataract

    Which diagnosis accounts for his displaced lenses?

    A 9-year-old boy is referred because new spectacles no longer improve his vision. Both lenses are displaced, with a lens edge visible in each dilated pupil. His irides are complete and his pupils round, central and fully dilating. Corneal diameters are 11.5 mm and intraocular pressures 14 mm Hg. His height, joints and skin are normal for his age. His father and paternal grandmother have both been told their lenses are displaced. He has never had an eye injury. Which diagnosis accounts for his displaced lenses?

    • AUntreated primary congenital glaucoma with buphthalmos
    • BSimple dominantly inherited familial ectopia lentis
    • CAniridia with foveal hypoplasia and nystagmus
    • DEhlers-Danlos syndrome with generalized joint hypermobility

    Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

    Answer: B. Simple dominantly inherited familial ectopia lentis

    Lens displacement in both eyes without injury or surgery divides into disorders of the whole connective tissue or metabolism and forms confined to the eye. Here his build is normal, his corneas are of normal size at a normal pressure, and his irides and pupils are formed, so nothing points beyond the zonule itself. Displaced lenses in his father and grandmother complete the picture: simple familial ectopia lentis, the dominantly inherited member of the nontraumatic group, diagnosed from the family tree and an otherwise normal examination. Even so, some FBN1 carriers have isolated ectopia lentis without systemic signs in childhood, so he should remain a lifelong Marfan syndrome suspect.

    Clinical pearl: A notched lens edge, typically inferonasal and sometimes accompanied by an iris, optic-nerve or retinal coloboma, is a lens coloboma rather than a displaced lens.

12. Question 12 · Retina & vitreous

    Management: 79-year-old man has had a day of pain

    Four days after uncomplicated cataract surgery, a 79-year-old man has had a day of pain and loss of vision in the right eye. Acuity is light perception only, with accurate projection. There is a 2 mm hypopyon, dense fibrin and no fundus view. B-scan shows dense vitreous opacities with an attached retina. He has no diabetes. Which procedure should this eye have first?

    • AVitreous tap with intravitreal antibiotics
    • BIntravenous antibiotics with topical fortified drops
    • CIntensive topical and oral corticosteroid alone
    • DImmediate vitrectomy with intravitreal antibiotics

    Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

    Answer: D. Immediate vitrectomy with intravitreal antibiotics

    For acute infection after cataract surgery, the Endophthalmitis Vitrectomy Study chose the first procedure by presenting acuity. Eyes with light perception only reached 20/40 (0.5) three times as often after immediate vitrectomy as after tap and inject (33% vs 11%), so this eye goes straight to vitrectomy. Diabetic eyes showed a nonsignificant trend to benefit from vitrectomy at any acuity.

    Clinical pearl: The trial's vitrectomy rule applies to acute infection after cataract surgery and should not be extended to bleb-related, endogenous, post-traumatic or delayed-onset endophthalmitis, whose organisms differ and, after filtering surgery, are more virulent.

13. Question 13 · Refractive surgery

    Haze after surface ablation: mechanism

    Listed for bilateral photorefractive keratectomy, a 31-year-old woman has refractions of −1.25 D in the right eye and −7.25 D in the left, with planned ablation depths of 20 µm and 105 µm. Neither eye has had previous surgery, the epithelium and tear film are healthy, and corneal thickness is 545 µm in each eye. The surgeon is deciding on intraoperative mitomycin C. She has been taking vitamin C, having read that it protects the cornea during laser treatment. How should mitomycin C be used for her?

    • AApply it only to the more myopic eye
    • BApply it to both eyes for equal protection
    • CWithhold it from both eyes until haze develops
    • DWithhold it and rely on the oral vitamin C

    Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

    Answer: A. Apply it only to the more myopic eye

    Haze after surface ablation is most likely with moderate-to-high corrections and deeper ablations, the usual indication for prophylactic mitomycin C applied to the stroma after the laser. Her left eye, with 105 µm removed for −7.25 D, fits that profile. The right eye's 20-µm treatment for low myopia carries little risk. Vitamin C has been proposed as protection against the laser's ultraviolet injury, but no randomized prospective trial supports it, so it neither replaces mitomycin C nor justifies postponing surgery. She should be told it is unproven, neither dismissed as useless nor endorsed. Haze arises when activated keratocytes become myofibroblasts, and ultraviolet exposure adds to the risk. Mitomycin C 0.02% is applied briefly to the ablated stroma and kept off the limbus and conjunctiva to protect limbal stem cells. It is also advised for surface ablation on a previously operated cornea, such as after LASIK, radial keratotomy or keratoplasty.

    Clinical pearl: Decide on mitomycin C eye by eye: a shallow ablation for low myopia carries little haze risk even when the fellow eye's deep treatment warrants prophylaxis.

14. Question 14 · General medicine

    Management: Neovascular macular degeneration

    Four months after neovascular macular degeneration abruptly reduced her better eye to 20/200 (0.1), a 78-year-old widow whose husband died last year has made three unscheduled visits, saying her eyes feel tired and her sight is "not right." She denies feeling sad and blames her poor sleep and difficulty concentrating on her eyes. Acuity and optical coherence tomography are unchanged since her last injection, with no fluid. She uses no eye drops, and a brief cognitive screen is normal. What should the ophthalmologist do now?

    • ABring forward her next intravitreal injection
    • BRefer her for assessment of depression
    • COrder magnetic resonance imaging of the brain
    • DReassure her and lengthen the review interval

    Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

    Answer: B. Refer her for assessment of depression

    Depression, the most frequent psychiatric problem of older adults, is almost twice as likely with impaired vision, and sudden moderate or severe loss, as in neovascular macular degeneration, or a spouse's recent death can precipitate it. Older patients more often voice somatic or hypochondriacal concerns and play down low mood (masked depression). Fatigue, poor concentration and new health worries commonly present subclinical depression. Frequent visits are a red flag, and the ophthalmologist should recognize and refer. Alpha-agonist drops can cause fatigue and depression, beta-blockers fatigue (their depression link now looks weaker), but she uses none.

    Clinical pearl: DSM-5 separates late-life depression from depressive symptoms caused by a general medical condition or its treatment, for which mood disorder is the preferred term.

15. Question 15 · Fundamentals

    Lidocaine placed in the anterior chamber: management

    Midway through phacoemulsification under topical tetracaine, a cooperative 70-year-old man reports a deep ache each time the surgeon stretches his small pupil with iris hooks. The posterior capsule is intact. He had trabeculectomy and later vitrectomy in this eye, and the conjunctiva is scarred in every quadrant. The surgeon wants to supplement the anesthesia without interrupting the operation. Which supplement best suits him?

    • Aunpreserved lidocaine 1% into the anterior chamber
    • Bpreserved lidocaine 1% into the anterior chamber
    • Clidocaine infused beneath the Tenon capsule by blunt cannula
    • Drepeated tetracaine drops on the corneal surface

    Show the answer and explanationAnswer and explanation

    Answer: A. unpreserved lidocaine 1% into the anterior chamber

    Lidocaine placed in the anterior chamber can add to topical anesthesia for cataract surgery: 0.3 mL of 1% isotonic, nonpreserved solution acts within seconds and modestly reduces intraoperative pain. The surgeon must verify the dose and use only a preservative-free preparation, because toxic anterior segment syndrome has been reported after intracameral medication with preservatives or dosing errors. The intact posterior capsule matters, since possible transient retinal toxicity has been described only when lidocaine was injected posteriorly in its absence. A mydriatic can be combined with it when dilation is poor or the iris billows, as in a patient taking an alpha-1 antagonist. Bisulfite stabilizers and thickeners that the ocular surface tolerates also injure the endothelium, so only products intended for intraocular use are injected.

    Clinical pearl: Lidocaine for the ocular surface comes as a 3.5% preservative-free gel licensed for ocular anesthesia in some countries, while 2% jelly (off-label) and 4% solution for injection can also be applied topically.

EBOD training questions by subspecialty

EBO exam at a glance

What is the EBOD exam, and what does FEBO mean?

What is the EBO exam format, and is there an EBO Part 1?

• Part I: 60 questions in 2 hours. Each of the 30 traditional MCQs has a stem and five true/false statements (150 scored items); with 30 SBAs, the maximum raw score is 180.
• Part II: 8 standardized cases across 4 stations, 60 minutes onsite as a face-to-face viva with 2 examiners, or 80 minutes online with typed answers. Questions are open-ended: describe an image, give a diagnosis and differential, choose investigations, outline management.
• Stations, 2 cases each: A, optics, refraction, strabismus, pediatrics and neuro-ophthalmology; B, cornea, external disease, orbit and adnexa; C, glaucoma, cataract and refractive surgery; D, posterior segment, inflammation and uveitis.
• Delivery: onsite, Part I is on EBO-provided tablets; online sittings are remotely proctored, and a disconnection of over 5 minutes invalidates the exam.

How is the EBO exam scored, and what is the pass mark?

• Score at least 6 in Part I and at least 6 overall.
• You may score below 6 in one Part II station only, and only if your Part I score and overall score are both above 6.

EBO exam 2027 dates, application deadlines and fees

• Autumn 2026: online (remotely proctored), Friday 16 October 2026. Applications ran from 20 March to 20 May 2026 and are closed.
• Spring 2027: online, Friday 14 May 2027. Applications run from 1 October to 15 December 2026 at 18:00 CET; applicants hear the outcome by the end of February 2027.
• Autumn 2027: in person in Berlin, Friday 1 October 2027. Applications run from 15 March to 31 May 2027 at 18:00 CEST, or close earlier if capacity is reached.
• Switzerland 2027: register with the Swiss Ophthalmological Society (SOG) from 1 October to 1 December 2026; the Swiss specialist exam runs with the spring session on 14 May 2027 in Interlaken. The SOG fee is CHF 1,500 for SOG/YSO assistant and active members of at least 2 years or CHF 3,000 for non-members; Swiss candidates cannot take the Berlin session.

Who is eligible for the EBOD exam?

• United Kingdom: residents can sit in their 4th year of formal training with a training number and Head of Department and National Delegate approval.
• Ireland: trainees can sit from their 4th year once they have passed the MRCSI.
• Switzerland: residents must apply through the SOG, not directly to the EBO.

Is the EBO exam mandatory in my country?

• Switzerland: the federal specialist exam is held together with the EBO exam, and passing it is required for the Swiss specialist title.
• Ireland: the EBO says passing is required to join the ophthalmology specialist division of the Medical Council register.
• Belgium (Flemish authority): specialist recognition requires a pass certificate from the EBO or ICO exam.
• Poland: the EBO Diploma is recognized as equivalent to the National Specialization Exam (PES).
• France: the Paris interns' union (SIHP) says residents sit it in their final year; we found no official regulation on whether they must pass.
• Austria: the Austrian Ophthalmological Society says the national FAP exam is still required and the EBO is optional, contradicting the EBO.
• Sweden: the national exam ended with the November 2025 sitting; the Swedish Ophthalmological Society strongly recommends the EBO exam, but it is not legally required.
• Netherlands and Finland: recommended, not mandatory; Finland keeps its own mandatory national exam.

What is the EBO exam pass rate?

• May 2026, Paris (in person): 432 candidates (373 residents, 59 specialists); 366 passed, about 84.7%.
• September 2025, Berlin (in person): 255 candidates; 207 passed, about 81.2%.
• May 2025 (online): 843 candidates; 630 passed, 202 failed and 11 were disqualified, about 74.7%.

How to use a question bank for the EBO exam

A 6-month EBO exam study plan

This plan works back from the online sitting on Friday 14 May 2027 (applications close 15 December 2026); adjust it for Berlin on 1 October 2027.

1. 6 months outConfirm eligibility with your National Delegate, get your Head of Department letter and apply (Swiss candidates via the SOG by 1 December 2026). Take a diagnostic set.
2. 20 weeks outWork through the 10 Part I fields with BCSC and Kanski, doing untimed topic questions in both formats, including general medicine and pharmacology.
3. 14 weeks outDrill five-statement true/false blocks, judging each statement independently; revisit every miss a few days later.
4. 10 weeks outStart Part II: two cases per station (typed online, spoken in Berlin): describe, diagnose, differential, investigate, manage, in 7 to 10 minutes each.
5. 6 weeks outSit a 60-question timed mock in 2 hours, review every explanation and drill your two weakest fields.
6. 3 weeks outSit a second mock and a full 8-case Part II run; for the online exam, test your laptop, Chrome, webcam and microphone.
7. Final weekReview flagged items and station frameworks, confirm logistics and rest.

EBO exam FAQ