Case Study: European Board of Ophthalmology

The EBO Diploma is a medical exam offered to European ophthalmologists by the European Board of Ophthalmology. It is designed to assess the knowledge and clinical skills requisite to the delivery of a high standard of ophthalmologic care both in hospitals and in independent clinical practices. The exam currently takes place once a year in Paris, France either in April or May. Since the exam was first introduced in 1995, the number of candidates who sit the exam has grown expansively and this year, 2015, saw over 550 candidates sit the exam.  Analysing this amount of exam papers manually and presenting the results within the short time frame, would have been an impossible task without Speedwell’s assistance. As it was, we successfully completed the scanning in record time!

The Challenge

When the EBO exam was first introduced, each paper was scored manually which was incredibly time consuming. As the number of candidates began to rapidly increase, it soon became apparent that it was no longer feasible to continue with this slow manual process. Following an Executive decision, it was decided to explore alternative solutions.

The Solution

Speedwell was recommended as an option by a contact in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and was ultimately agreed upon by the Committee Members. We opted for Speedwell because they met all our requirements in terms of providing a seamless solution that combined the design, scanning and analysis of the exams. Other benefits were the level of service and support offered by Speedwell, including having a technical consultant attend and assist during the exam.

The Results

Speedwell design and produce our MCQ sheets, as well as assist onsite with the hundreds of exam papers we need to score within a very short time. Time is dramatically cut down as the scanner is able to scan and pick up hundreds of answers within a matter of seconds. It’s made us much more efficient and being able to get the results within hours of the exam taking place is invaluable. Furthermore, the quality of the assistance and support during the exam has been excellent.

The Future

Speedwell has allowed us to meet the increasing demand for the EBO exam and turn results around within hours. We are extremely pleased with the helpful onsite support we receive from Speedwell and look forward to continuing our partnership for the foreseeable future. Read how the EBO ran online exams using Speedwell Software here: Delivering Flexible and Scalable Online Exams.