In accordance with Section 61-2-8 NMSA 1978, and those qualifications set forth therein, applicants for licensure by examination must submit to the board office, at least 65 days prior to the announced examination date, a letter of intent applying for the next regularly scheduled board examination accompanied by the required application processing fee. In addition to a completed, board-approved application form, the following documents must be received by the board office no later than 40 days prior to the requested examination.

1. A. Official pre-optometry transcript(s) sent directly to the board office by each college or university attended by the applicant.

2. B. A complete official optometry transcript showing the applicant's graduation sent directly to the board by a college of optometry as approved by the American optometric association's council of optometric education.

   1. (1) An applicant expecting to graduate in the spring or summer prior to the board's examination who does not expect completed transcripts to be available before the documentation deadline, must make arrangements for the school to send a letter directly to the board regarding the applicant's expected graduation.
   2. (2) The letter must be postmarked before the forty-day documentation deadline.
   3. (3) The completed, official transcript must be received by the board before the scheduled examination date or the application will be considered incomplete, and the applicant will be denied entrance into the examination.
3. C. Verification of another state license held by the applicant, if applicable.
4. D. An affidavit from the applicant that the applicant has not engaged in any optometry practice of an illegal or unethical nature as defined in the Optometry Act, Sections 61-2-1 to-18 NMSA 1978.
5. E. Copy of current certification attesting to completion of a CPR course offered by the American red cross, the American heart association, or the American safety and health institute (ASHI). The course cannot be self-study.
6. F. A verification from an accredited optometry school of successful completion of 100 or more post-graduate clock hours of ocular therapeutics pharmacology, as provided in Subsection A of 16.16.7.10 NMAC, and a minimum of 20 post-graduate clock hours in clinical pharmacology as provided in Subsection B of 16.16.7.11 NMAC.

7. G. Verification directly from the national board of examiners in optometry (NBEO) that the applicant has successfully passed part I, part II, part III, and the TMOD of the NBEO as provided in Subsection B of 16.16.3.8 NMAC.

   1. (1) If NBEO examination results will not be released by the NBEO prior to the documentation deadline, the applicant must submit to the board a copy of the NBEO letter scheduling the applicant for the NBEO exam(s).
   2. (2) Upon receipt of verification of successful completion of the required NBEO exam(s), and upon having met all other requirements stipulated in this regulation, the approved applicant will be scheduled for the next regularly scheduled board examination.
8. H. A list of the names of any New Mexico licensed optometrist(s) with whom the applicant is acquainted; with whom the applicant has a professional or personal affiliation; or that the applicant would feel uncomfortable being examined by, in the event that one of those optometrists is a board member or a clinical examiner for the board. Failure to provide this information prior to the examination deadline may disqualify the applicant from the exam.
9. I. Each approved exam applicant will be required to bring a copy of the board’s examination policy and procedures document to the clinical exam and to sign it in the presence of the board’s representative in attestation that the applicant has read the document; and a copy of the document will become a part of the candidate’s examination records.

10. J. proof of any disqualifying criminal convictions as defined in 16.16.21.12 NMAC.

    [11/17/1973; 3/8/1986; 3/31/1991; 8/21/1992; 6/24/1994; 9/30/1995; 10/14/1995; 5/31/1996; 2/15/1999; 16.16.3.9 NMAC - Rn, 16 NMAC 16.3.9, 3/15/2001; A, 3/15/2004; A, 3/22/2008; A, 7/6/2012; A, 6/25/2015, A, 2/26/2022; A, 12/27/2022]