Section 166. The board shall conduct examinations at least twice a year at a time and place designated by the board, in order to determine any applicant's qualifications for the practice of an allied mental health and human services profession.

Examinations may be written or oral as determined by the board. In any written examination each applicant shall be designated so that the name shall not be disclosed to the board until examinations have been graded.

Examinations shall include questions in such theoretical and applied fields as the board deems most suitable to test an applicant's knowledge and competence to engage in the practice of the allied mental health and human services profession in which licensure is sought.

An applicant shall be held to have passed an examination upon affirmative vote of at least five members of the board.

Any individual who fails an examination conducted by the board shall not be admitted to a subsequent examination for a period of at least six months.

The board shall issue a license without examination to the following: (1) an applicant licensed as a professional in a comparable field in another state whose requirements for the license are determined by the board to be equivalent to or exceed the requirements of the commonwealth (2) an applicant who has passed a civil service examination for a position whose title is included in the definition of an allied mental health and human services professional in section one hundred and sixty-three and who has completed six months service in such position with an agency of the commonwealth or its political subdivisions and who meets the requirements of section one hundred and sixty-five; provided, however, that such applicant shall submit an application on forms prescribed by the board and pay the licensure fee therefor.