Optometry

ficiency in English by passing an examination in English given by the Department, or by submitting evidence of completion of a satisfactory course of study in English or in such other manner as the Commissioner shall determine.

(c) An applicant for admission to professional practice, who is not a citizen of the United States, shall submit, in such form and manner as the Commissioner shall determine, satisfactory evidence that he has fully complied with all Federal and New York State statutes relative to the registration of aliens. No credential for admission to professional study or practice, no credit toward professional study or practice, and no admission to any examination shall be granted said applicant until evidence of such compliance has been accepted. Evidence of such compliance shall likewise be required of every applicant who has applied prior to the enactment of this regulation before further credit or any credential is granted him.

$24. REGISTRATION OF CURRICULMS IN OPHTHALMIC DISPENSING

1. A school of ophthalmic dispensing shall have adequate equipment and resources including suitable clinical facilities, and shall maintain an adequate professional library.

2. It shall provide a sufficient number of fulltime salaried instructors with satisfactory professional training.

3. It shall maintain a satisfactory course of instruction covering at least 48 weeks.

4. It shall require for admission the completion of an approved four-year secondary school course of study or the equivalent.

§ 25. ADMINISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATIONS

1. Filing of applications.-Notwithstanding the provisions of the following sections relating to the filing of applications for admission to professional examinations, any person who has been admitted to an examination and seeks readmission to a subsequent examination or part thereof in the same profession, shall file an application for admission to said professional licensing examination not less than fifteen days before the examination. The Assistant Commissioner for Professional Education may, in his discretion, waive the requirements of both the aforegoing sentence and the following sections of these regulations relating to the time requirement for filing applications for admission to the professional licensing examinations upon proof being submitted that the person making application has been duly registered for military service under the Selective Service Act and has been notified to appear for induction into said military service, or upon the submission of sufficient evidence that the delay in applying for admission to a licensing examination was in no way due to the fault of the applicant, and provided the acceptance of such an application will not cause major alteration in the examination structure and procedures. [Subdivision 1 as amended March 26, 1954, and April 22, 1955]

2. Identification. For the purpose of identification the applicant shall present at the examination center a photograph as prescribed on the admission card.

§ 70. DEFINITIONS

ARTICLE VIII. OPTOMETRY

1. Unprofessional conduct, fraud and deceit.-Unprofessional conduct, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in the practice of optometry under sections 7108 and 7111 of the Education Law shall include but shall not be limited to the following: (a) The use by any optometrist authorized to practice under the Education Law of New York State of the title "doctor" or any abbreviation thereof without the qualification "optometrist"

(b) The loan of his license or certificate by a licensed optometrist to any other person

(c) The employment, either directly or indirectly, of any unlicensed person in the performance of any services for which an optometrist's license is required by

law

(d) Any conduct or advertising of a character tending to deceive or mislead the public

(e) Advertising professional superiority or the performance of professional services in a superior manner

(f) Advertising of any character which includes or contains any price whatsoever or any reference thereto, or any reference to cost whether related to the examination or to the cost of price of lenses, glasses, frames, mountings or any other optometric services, article or device necessary for the patient

(g) Advertising by means of large display, glaring, illuminated or flickering signs or by means of any sign containing as a part thereof the representation of

the human eye or any portion of the human head or the representation of spectacles, eyeglasses, frames or mountings. A large display sign shall mean a sign containing letters exceeding six inches in height on the first or ground floor and eight inches in height on the second floor or above and exceeding one foot by three feet overall. The use by an optometrist of more than five signs shall also be deemed a large display. An illuminated sign shall mean a sign lighted or selfluminous by any means whatever, or giving the outward appearance of same. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent the illumination of a sign setting forth the name of the practitioner and the word "optometrist" provided that the illumination is not colored and such sign does not otherwise conflict with this regulation. [Paragraph g amended January 25, 1957]

(h) Offering for free examination or other gratuitous services, bonuses, premiums, discounts or any other inducements.

(2) Aiding or abetting, either directly or indirectly, in the conduct of advertising of any employer, firm or associate if such conduct or advertising conflicts with the foregoing regulations; or continuing the practice of optometry with any such employer, firm, or associate after the optometrist has received written notice from the Board of Examiners or from the Department of such conduct or advertising by the employer, firm, or associate.

§71. PROFESSIONAL STUDY

1. The applicant shall meet the requirements of the Education Law, particularly section 7105. The requirement in professional study is graduation from a school of optometry conducted as a department of a university registered by the Board of Regents with either the degree of bachelor of arts or that of bachelor of science and a certificate of graduation in optometry.

§ 72. LICENSING EXAMINATIONS

1. General requirements

(a) Application.-An application for admission to a licensing examination shall be filed with the Department as hereinafter prescribed.

If the Department finds that the application is complete and that all the requirements of the statute and of these regulations have been met, it shall issue to the applicant an admission card which shall advise him of the time, date and place of the examination and shall admit him thereto. At the conclusion of the examination he shall return the admission card to the Department representative conducting the examination.

(b) Conduct of examinations.-The licensing examinations in optometry shall be both written and practical. Licensing examinations shall be conducted in accordance with the following rules and any candidate violating such rules may be dismissed from the examination room by the Department representative or otherwise disciplined.

(1) No candidate shall enter the examination more than 45 minutes after the question papers have been distributed nor shall any candidate leave the examination until 45 minutes have elapsed.

(2) During the examination no candidate shall communicate with any other candidate in any way except upon the express permission of the Department representative.

(3) A candidate shall not bring books or help of any kind into the examination room unless directed to do so by the Department because of the character of the examination.

(4) After handing in his last paper in any examination each candidate shall make and subscribe to an affidavit to the effect that he has violated none of the rules.

(c) Rating and report.-Upon the conclusion of each written examination the papers shall be sent to the proper examiner, who shall rate them immediately. Upon the conclusion of the rating he shall prepare a duplicate report thereon. (1) Upon the conclusion of each practical examination the examiner in charge shall prepare a duplicate report thereon.

(2) For both the written and the practical examinations the examiner shall file one copy of the report with the secretary of his board and the other copy with the Department.

(3) The secretary of the board shall thereupon prepare his report, which shall be a compilation of the reports from each examiner on both the written and the practical examinations, and shall file the report promptly with the Department. The rating of the examination shall not be complete until the report of the secretary has been filed.

(4) The Department shall then notify each candidate of his success or failure and advise him, if he had failed, when and on what basis he may be reexamined.

(d) Passing mark.-The passing mark in the written examination shall be an average of 75 percent. However, in order to determine this average, no paper shall be accepted with a grade less than 65 percent and only one paper with a grade less than 75 percent. The practical examination shall be rated as either "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory."

2. Special requirements

(a) The examination shall be held twice each year, at times and places to be determined by the Commissioner. Applications shall be filed with the Department not less than 30 days before the examination.

The written subjects of the examination shall be:

Group 1. Geometric and physical optics, anatomy and physiology, pathology.

Group 2. Optometric dispensing, physiologic optics, general practice of optometry, special practice of optometry.

(b) (1) A candidate who fails in more than one subject in either group shall be reexamined in the entire group.

(2) A candidate may be conditioned in one subject of each group and may remove these conditions at any other subsequent examination.

Practical optometry

Practical optometric dispensing

(d) Each application must be verified by oath. It must show in a manner satisfactory to the Department that the applicant is

(1) More than 21 years of age, except that the subjects of Group 1 of the written examination may be taken by candidates 19 years of age who have completed the first two years of a curriculum in optometry registered by the Department.

(2) Has completed the preliminary education requirement above prescribed (3) Has completed the professional education requirement

$73. ENDORSEMENT OF CERTIFICATE

1. In order to have his optometry certificate from another State or country endorsed the applicant must submit satisfactory evidence on blanks furnished by the Department that he has

(a) Met the New York State preliminary and professional requirements? (b) Been granted his certificate in such other State or country after passing an examination conducted by a regularly constituted board of examiners

(d) No certificate will be endorsed in this manner except upon the recommendations of the Board of Optometry Examiners of this State and each applicant for such endorsement must file two unmounted photographs of himself with his application.

(Subdivision 1 amended October 28, 1955)

ARTICLE VIII-A. OPHTHALMIC DISPENSING

$76. OPHTHALMIC DISPENSING

1. Unprofessional conduct, fraud and deceit.-Unprofessional conduct, fraud, decit or misrepresentation in the practice of ophthalmic dispensing shall include but shall not be limited to the following:

(a) The use of the title "doctor" or any abbreviation thereof by an “ophthalmic dispenser," except by a person duly licensed to practice medicine in this State or by a person who holds an approved degree of doctor of optometry when followed by the qualification "optometrist"

(b) Any conduct or advertising of a character tending to deceive or mislead the public

(c) Advertising of any character which includes r contains any price whatsoever or any reference thereto, or any reference to cost, whether related to service or material, and notwithstanding the same may be neither fraudulent nor deceitful, shall be and is unprofessional conduct in the practice of ophthalmic dispensing; (d) Advertising gratuitous services, bonuses, premiums, discounts or any other inducements

(e) Aiding or abetting, either directly or indirectly, in the conduct of advertising of any employer, firm or associate if such conduct or advertising conflicts with the

2 See section 7105 of the Education Law of 1947.

foregoing regulations; or continuing the practice of ophthalmic dispensing with any such employer, firm or associate after the ophthalmic dispenser has received written notice from the Board or the Department of such conduct or advertising by the firm or associate

(f) Directly or indirectly participating in any manner in the division, assignment, rebate, splitting or refunding of service fees or cost of completed eyeglasses, or parts thereof, with a physician, optometrist or other person or persons.

2. Professional study and experience.-The applicant shall meet the educational requirements of the Education Law. The requirement in professional study is graduation from a school of ophthalmic dispensing registered by the Department, or the completion of at least one year of satisfactory training and experience in ophthalmic dispensing under the supervision of an ophthalmic dispenser, physician or optometrist, or the equivalent as determined by the Commissioner. Every person who is employed by an ophthalmic dispenser, physician or optometrist with the intention of becoming an ophthalmic aispenser shall apply to the Department for a trainee permit prior to entry upon such training. Trainees shall complete at least 600 hours of supervised experience in the fitting and adjusting of ophthalmic lenses, 300 hours in the verification and interpretation of prescriptions and 300 hours in other aspects of the practice and theory of ophthalmic dispensing, including laboratory preparation.

3. Examination requirements

a. The ophthalmic dispensing examinations shall be held at such times and places as shall be determined by the Commissioner.

b. Applications shall be filed with the Department at least 30 days before the examination. The subjects of the examination shall be:

Mathematics and physics

Ophthalmic materials and laboratory
Ophthalmic optics

Ophthalmic dispensing

Practical examination

c. A candidate who passes the practical examination shall not be reexamined in that subject. (Paragraph c as amended October 28, 1955)

d. The passing mark in the practical ophthalmic dispensing examination shall be 75 per cent. The passing mark for the written examination shall be an average of 75 per cent. However, in order to determine this average no theoretical paper shall be accepted with a grade less than 65 per cent and only one paper with a grade less than 75 per cent.

e. Any false or misleading information in connection with any application may be cause for exclusion from the examinations on the ground of lack of good moral character. If the Department finds that the application is complete and that all the requirements of the statute and of the regulations have been met, it shall issue to the applicant an admission card which shall advise him of the time, date and place of the examination. When the candidate submits each examination paper he shall exhibit his admission card to the examiner. At the conclusion of the final examination the examiner shall retain the card.

f. Licensing examinations shall be conducted in accordance with the following procedure, and any candidate violating such procedure may be dismissed from the examination room or otherwise disciplined.

(1) No candidate shall enter the examination more than 45 minutes after the question papers have been distributed nor shall any candidate leave the examination until 45 minutes have elapsed.

(2) During the examination no candidate shall communicate with any other candidate in any way.

(3) A candidate shall not bring books or other help of any kind into the examination room unless directed to do so by the Department because of the character of the examination.

(4) After handing in his last paper in any examination each candidate shall make and subscribe to a statement to the effect that he has neither given nor received aid during the examination.

RULES OF THE STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS IN OPTOMETRY

1. The officers of the board shall be a president and a vice president, each of whom shall be elected at the annual meeting of the board for a term of one year. The president shall perform the usual duties of such office and shall appoint a question committee of two members whose duty it shall be to edit the question papers for each examination.

The secretary shall perform the usual duties of such office and, after each examination, shall submit to the Department a written report of the ratings of the answer papers written therein.

2. Meetings of the board shall be held at such times and places as the board shall determine, except that the annual meeting shall be held in Albany in October. 3. Each member of the board shall submit to the Department prior to each examination a question paper on the examination subject that the board has assigned to him. Such question paper shall contain a minimum of 15 questions. 4. Answer papers submitted to a member of the board for rating should be rated at the rate of at least 20 papers a day.

5. When a member of the board has completed the rating of the answer papers submitted to him he shall prepare a report of the ratings in duplicate, sending one copy to the Department and the other copy to the secretary of the board.

6. A candidate whose rejected paper in any written subject receives a rating of 60 per cent or over may have a review of the rating of said paper. The review shall be made in such a manner as the board shall determine. No such review shall be granted more than 60 days after the report on the examination has been sent out by the Department.

7. An answer paper bearing the candidate's name or any other designation which would or could reveal the candidate's identity must be forwarded without rating to the secretary of the board. The secretary shall thereupon send such paper for rating to one of the other members of the board, making sure that no evidence of the candidate's identity remains thereon.

8. The scope of the subjects of the examination shall be as follows:

(a) Geometric optics. The examination includes the laws of reflection and refraction, as applied to mirrors, prisms, lenses and optical instruments; also elementary problems in diffraction, interference, light propagation and polarization, usually described in the chapter on light in modern textbooks of physics and in standard treatises on light.

(b) Practical optics (written and practical). The examination is confined to the construction, mounting and adjustment of ophthalmic lenses and prisms. (c) Physiological optics. The examination covers specifically the philosophy of the dioptric functions of the eye, its anomalies, and their correction by lenses, also psychology of vision, color vision, stereopsis and projection.

(d) Theoretical optometry. The examination includes the explanation of the various principles, methods and instruments used to detect and measure anomalies of the eye in general.

(e) Practical optometry (written and practical).

(1) The development of an adequate case history

(2) External examination of the human eye

(3) The employment of accepted tests and procedures including the use of the requisite devices and instruments to detect ocular pathology, ocular manifestations of physical conditions and the charting of form and color fields, the blind spot and scotomata

(4) The application of the usual subjective and objective tests together with the use of those ophthalmic instruments commonly employed to investigate the various refractive, functional and anomalous states of the visual apparatus.

(5) The ability to prescribe and apply corrective devices, give a prognosis and instruct patients regarding the care of the eyes

(f) Anatomy, physiology and pathology of the eye. The examination includes the embryology, anatomy, physiology and histology of the eye and its pathologic conditions.

9. (a) The practical examination shall be held at such times and places as shall be determined by the Commissioner upon the recommendation of the board. (b) The examination shall be conducted by all members of the board in person, except that in case any member of the board is unable to be present, the Commissioner shall select an examination assistant to take the place of the absent member. Such examination assistant shall be a licensed and registered optometrist in good standing.

(1) Practical optometry

(2) Practical optics

Not less than 40 minutes shall be allowed each candidate for each subject. Each candidate shall bring to the examination in practical optometry a complete trial case including trial frame, muscle testing devices, such as Maddox rod and prisms, self luminous retinoscope and ophthalmoscope. To the examination in practical optics he shall bring his kit of shop tools and a metal frame of the size and dimensions that will fit him.

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Optometry: Hearings Before Subcommittee No. 4, Eighty-ninth Congress, Second ...