Hello! I sat for the CPC, second time on May 7, waiting for results now. I have 2 years at a gastro office coding hospital and office encounters. I also completed a program at my community college. My first shot in March, I completely ran out of time and had about 30 questions I had to fill in blankly. I failed with a 60%.
LOOK UP THE ANSWERS FIRST. Don't bother reading the questions first, for the long cases and what not. My second time around I finished with about 45 minutes remaining and I was able to look back over all my questions.
Be aware of HCSPCS guidelines for colonoscopy and colon screenings. Know what your Z codes are for and how to use them. As others have said, med term and anatomy should be a breeze for you. I did that section first. KNOW YOUR BOOKS. Know where things are, tab whatever you need. You are welcome to write notes in any of your books - hilighters are also your BFF. I used this to my advantage heavily in the critical care and EM sections. You'll waste a ton of time going through tables and finding those tables.
Be familiar with your modifiers, especially for radiology and professional / technical components. I had a few of those questions, and they tripped me up a little!
I highly recommend purchasing the practice exams and the study guide book from AAPC. This is more about test taking psychology and quickly pulling out wrong answers than it really is in ability to code. I'll keep you guys posted on my results. Hopefully I passed because I don't think I have another $350 to shell out anytime soon ???[]