The TMOD examination focuses primarily on the administration of prescription drugs. However, some items include the use of over-the-counter medications, and other items involve non-pharmacologic interventions. In addition, some items may test the candidate's knowledge of whether additional diagnostic data are needed before initiating treatment. These additional considerations are part of optometrists' responsibilities where the scope of practice has been expanded. An understanding of systemic conditions that have a clinical correlation to ocular signs and symptoms and an understanding of systemic conditions/medications that may contraindicate certain ocular therapies are integral to the therapeutic management of ocular disease. Therefore, up to 30% of the items on the TMOD examination may include systemic considerations to reflect these clinical interrelationships. However, items on the TMOD examination do not test directly the pathophysiology or treatment of specific systemic diseases.

The TMOD test is composed of two sets of categorical breakdowns. The first breakdown consists of seven major content areas of the eye and adnexa. The second breakdown represents five areas of clinical application. Each test item is classified within a content area and a clinical application category. For each content area and clinical application category, there are numbers in parentheses that indicate the range of items (minimum and maximum) that will appear on the examination. These ranges are included to inform candidates of the relative emphasis placed on each area. The percentage indicated is for the number represented by the midpoint of the range.

The National Board is aware that some practitioners, as well as some student clinicians, may be more familiar with the trade names of drugs than with the generic names. For this reason, on both the TMOD examination and the Part II (Clinical Science) examination, the National Board has a long-standing policy of providing both the generic and the trade names for those generic drugs that have commonly used trade names (e.g., acetazolamide as a generic name and Diamox as the commonly used trade name). However, to avoid having to print both the generic and the trade names of such drugs each time they are referenced on an examination, the National Board has developed a list of generic names and corresponding trade name equivalents for those drugs that have commonly used trade names. The candidate is referred to the table Generic Drugs and Trade Name Equivalents for a listing of these drugs. This list also is reprinted on the inside front covers of the TMOD and Clinical Science test booklets.

It is important to note that many generic drugs appearing on the TMOD and Clinical Science examinations are not included in the Generic Drugs and Trade Name Equivalents listing, because these drugs are generally referred to only by their generic names. Examples of such drugs include erythromycin, homatropine, and prednisone. Occasionally, due to the timing between website updates and exam development, a drug with a commonly used trade name may appear on the exam but not appear on the drug list in this guide. If this situation occurs, the drug list that appears in the test booklet will be updated accordingly.