Licensing Exam Information

The LSBOE Optometry Licensing Exam will be administered in-person July 12-13, 2024, at Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North,  2611 Greenwood Rd., Shreveport, Louisiana, phone (318) 212-2020.  Candidates should plan to spend Friday night in the Shreveport-Bossier City area, and must complete & return the Application for Licensing Exam, along with all required materials & $500.00 payment, no later than 30 days prior to exam administration.

Infection protocols & social distancing plans will be in place when necessary, and if the state is under a mask mandate, candidates will be required to bring their mask.  A detailed agenda for the LSBOE Licensing Exam can be found here.
 
Generally speaking, the exam to obtain a license to practice optometry in the state of Louisiana is typically administered the second or third weekend in July at Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North, 2611 Greenwood Rd., Shreveport, Louisiana, Phone (318) 212-2020. Please contact the Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners' (LSBOE) office to confirm exact dates/times/location for any given year.  Candidates should plan to spend Friday night in the Shreveport-Bossier City area, and must complete & return the Application for Licensing Exam, along with all required materials & payment, no later than 30 days prior to exam administration.

The Louisiana Legislature has passed numerous laws governing the practice and regulation of the profession of optometry, all of which are fair game for the licensing exam.  Additionally, the LSBOE has promulgated numerous rules & regulations to implement and enforce these laws, all of which are also fair game for the licensing exam.  Applicants are strongly encouraged to become intimately familiar with all aspects of these laws and rules/regulations (click links to review). 

The Licensing Exam consists of 3 parts:  

1) A multiple choice and/or true-false Jurisprudence/Law Exam (comprising 20% of the candidate's overall score) covering in detail all aspects of both the laws & the rule/regulations governing the LSBOE & the practice of optometry in Louisiana;

2) A multiple choice Advanced Procedures Exam (comprising 20% of the candidate's overall score) covering clinical considerations of allowed lasers, injections, & lid procedures;

3) A Clinical Practical Exam (comprising 60% of the candidate's overall score) that involves multiple stations through which candidates rotate to answer questions after either examining live patients, interpreting provided test results, and/or demonstrating entry-level competence in optometric skills (including advanced procedures such as allowed lasers and lid procedures).  An outline of potential topics on the exam can be found here and on the LSBOE website under "Applying for a Louisiana Optometry License."

Candidates are not to share exam questions with others who may take the Louisiana licensing examination.  

A typical schedule of events for the licensing exam is as follows (subject to change):

Friday 2:00pm-5:00pm - Lasers to be used in the practical exam are available for applicants to familiarize themselves with & to ask questions of the manufacturer's representatives (participation optional; location: Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North)

Friday 5:00pm-6:00pm - Administration of Jurisprudence/Law Exam & Advanced Procedures Exam (location: Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North, Conference Room)

Saturday 8:00am - Arrivals at Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North, with personal diagnostic lenses, hand instruments, and pen

Saturday 8:30am - 11:45am (end time approximate) - Orientation & group assignments, followed by rotation through multiple exam stations (2 stations of which will be dedicated to advanced procedures such as YAG capsulotomy, YAG peripheral iridotomy, Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty, injections, & lid procedures; and 1 station of which will be an ungraded, informal question & answer interview with members of the LSBOE).

The results of each question from the licensing exam will be analyzed for validity after test administration, and questions may be removed from scoring consideration.  Tests will be graded as quickly as possible, with a minimum overall score of 70% typically required for passage.  Pass/Fail results should be available the Monday after the exam is administered, and candidates should call the LSBOE office for their results.  Once an applicant passes the licensing exam, pays the requisite license fees, and completes all requirements for licensure, the state of Louisiana further requires all health care licensing boards to complete several administrative tasks prior to issuance of a license number.  This process may take 1-2 weeks, so please contact the LSBOE to check the status of your license.

If an applicant fails to pass the examination, he/she may, after the expiration of 6 months, take a second examination without paying an additional fee, if this examination is held within 2 years after the failure.