# Taking the Pre-Exam for CPT



## kblevins (Jul 6, 2008)

Hi everyone,
I've just graduated from US Careers with a GPA of 94%.  My counselor
advised me to go ahead in taking the CPT Exam. I order the Study guide and took the Pre-Exam off of the CD and to my surprise, I was horrible in Medical Terminology. The rest wasn't that bad that I couldn't go back and review and pass. I have been sick ever since I took this test that I'm afraid to put my date in for the real test. Any advise on how to remember the Terminology and Anatomy. I have been studying and still so afraid I'm Going to forget things. With US Careers it was there for you to look up and said not to worry, I wouldn't have to remember all of this information and now I'm panicking. I have heard you have to pass each section to pass the whole test. My timing sucked as well again I took My time in my studies to try and understand it. I feel I will be good in coding and look forward on hopes of 
 getting a job soon. This is something I really want to do I just need a little help getting over this hump.  If any one has any advise I would really appreciate hearing from you.  I would like to try and take this test in the 
up coming month or so!!!   
              thanks,
              Karen Blevins 
kblevins@prtcnet.com


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## mmorningstarcpc (Jul 7, 2008)

Don't panic and dont  feel bad.  I had five classes of medical terminology in college, (years ago), have done transcription off and on, and done medical billing and coding and managed physicians offices and billing services for 20+ years , and I STILL had trouble with the terminology.  My first semester of med term we just had prefixes, suffixes and root words, learning how to break down most any word.  Yeah right??!!  LOL!  Good luck to you.


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## kblevins (Jul 7, 2008)

mmorningstarcpc,
 Thanks for the in-put, there is just so many prefixes and suffixes and root words. This was why I was asking if you or someone knew a easier way of 
remembering the ones that are most likely to be on the test. I would think it would be impossible to remember them all. 

          thanks again


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## mmorningstarcpc (Jul 7, 2008)

Kblevins

I think in my CPC exam I had the five words I couldn't pull anything out of.....then in my CPC-H exam, I think I knew 3 out of 5?  I tried everything to think of the other two.....wonder how I did, LOL!

Don't sweat it, remember it is a small part of the exam overall.


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## perkins (Jul 7, 2008)

*AAPC Practice Exams A and B*

Hello all,

I am taking the CPT exam soon! I have been practice the AAPC Practice Exams A,B,C, does anybody from AAPC know why Practice Exam A and B have all four answers incorrect? example: the suffix "rraphy" incorrect answers for rupture,suture,rip,remove. The word element "hidr/o water retention,renal tubules,tear production,sweat glands.

Thanks,
Clewis


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## dmaec (Jul 7, 2008)

perkins, they don't have all for answers incorrect!  The correct answer is in the choices.  Be sure to review prefix/suffix/etc area before taking the test!
good luck!


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## perkins (Jul 7, 2008)

Hi dmaec,

The word element "hidr/o the correct answer is sweat glands, which give a incorrect answers, and the suffix "rraphy correct answer suture all highlighted say a incorrect answer, I test 4 times, all say incorrect answers.

Thanks,
Clewis


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## dmaec (Jul 7, 2008)

must be a computer glich then ... but at least you know you got them correct!


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## sherryjean27 (Jul 8, 2008)

Karen,

Don't forget. You can write alot of your medical terminology in your coding books. I wrote a lot in mine in my ICD-9 book. But I already knew the terms that they asked, so I didn't even have to use them. The anatomy questions you should be able to answer most of them by your books. Don't forget, use CPT professional. It will be to your advantage. Don't stress so much. Just keep coding and doing practice tests, and know your guidelines:


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## kblevins (Jul 9, 2008)

Thank you sherrie,I didn't know you could do that. Can you write most anything in your book or are there limits?


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## dmaec (Jul 9, 2008)

it's good to have little reminders in our books, but - when I took my CPC test 4-1/2 years ago.  Two women had "their" books taken away and had to use other ones provided because of how much they had written in their books.  What they wrote is beyond me!  I'm not sure why notes have to be written in the books anyway, the information we need is already printed in it, why re-write what's already written?  You just need to know where to look to find it.


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## sherryjean27 (Jul 12, 2008)

kblevins said:


> Thank you sherrie,I didn't know you could do that. Can you write most anything in your book or are there limits?


You're Welcome! You may want to find out for sure with AAPC. I just took advice from other fellow coders. The only thing the proctors checked in all of our books was that there wasn't anything stapled and inserted in the books. I wrote alot. Also when you read the guidelines you may want to go through your icd-9 book and write notes. That helped me alot. Good luck to you, Karen. Just study hard and don't take it likely. It will be worth all the time you spent!


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## beckiw (Jul 27, 2008)

You are allowed to write anything you want to inside your coding books.  You are NOT allowed to tape anything into your books, write on a sticky note and put it inside the book, etc.  Your books are inspected upon check in at the test.  Also, remember most coding books include pictures of anatomy structures.  Use those pages and add notes to yourself on those pages about the structure.

And yes, you need to pass each individual section to pass the entire test.

Good luck.


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