Wiki Exam - I will be taking my exam

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I just tabbed the crap out of my book and made sure to write in anything important in it. You can't have loose paper in it or taped in but you can write in there so I wrote in all sorts of charts from my book and everything. And I went through and highlighted some of the major things as well. Use the front of each chapter in the cpt to help you find those codes if you need it.

Do a lot of "process of elimination" for the answers. You can often times eliminate some of the answers based and help narrow down the correct one.

Don't leave anything blank. I took little sticky tabs, and ones that were taking a lot of time I flagged and came back to, because the easy ones count the same as the hard ones. I find that if there's a really tough one and I come back in a while and it gets a little easier.

Know your medical terminology. Get a good night's sleep and eat a good breakfast and bring a snack and some water.

Here's a list I just found online to help

-Skip the index. Use the multiple choice options given and go straight to the codes and start matching the code descriptions to your scenario.
-Keep your CPT book open to the section you are being tested on. All the questions in a section are from the same category in the CPT book. Flipping pages all over the book is a waste of valuable time.
-Skip the questions that look like they will take a long time. Work through the rest of the exam and come back to the long ones at the end. Make sure you keep your answer sheet straight when you skip!
-Move quickly but pay close attention to key words in the scenarios that change code selection.
-When you working through the items you skipped and any that you get stuck on, use the process of elimination. You can usually eliminate 2 possibilities very quickly and focus on good codes.
-Don?t leave any items blank. A guess has a 25% chance of being correct, a blank has 0%.

And don't freak out! If you did the coursework and studied and read and did some practice exams, you'll be fine.

Good luck!
 
I agree with everything ksobota said (wrote?) with one exception. When I was doing my practice tests, on one of them I tried the strategy of skipping what appeared to be the "lengthy" or "hard" questions. I actually got my worst score on that practice test.

When I took the actual test I decided to do them in order and found that while the difficult questions will seemingly negatively effect your per answer average there are large swaths of the test that you will move through quickly (assuming you now the material). This worked for me, and I have read responses from other people that say it worked for them as well. The bottom line is you have to approach the test in a way that is comfortable for you. Good luck.
 
it really depends on the person. when I dont skip I run out of time. in a 150 question practice test and the real test I had 2 hours at the end to handle about a dozen questions. sure I did find many of them I skipped I could answer pretty quickly when I returned to them but it was only because I no longer felt rushed and the answers just came to me. easy and tough questions are worth the same amount of points. I looked around at a few people when I walked out with 30 min to spare that only had half their answer grids filled out. Why risk wasting time on a question worth one point when you can get 10 more right in the same amount of time.
 
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I wrote examples

KimberleyMartin said:
I will be taking my exam in a few weeks. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips or hints of any kind? Thank you ;)
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I wrote examples with answers in my cpt book Kim things I got stuck on, like the lesions, burns etc....also with e and m's write in those books as much as you can and tips you find online and tab, tab tab. Best of luck to you!!!
 
Exam

Think you everyone! I'm not nervous about the test at all, I think it's the sitting for five hours. Lol! I have been all over the net looking for tips. And to be honest I don't know if I'm looking for cheats or just OVER ANALYZING the whole thing. I've tab tab tab my book and will be writing my notes that I've collected in it today. This is my first try (exam)and have one more to go. But the next one will have to be on icd 10, so it's going to be like starting all over again. Ugh!! I was not told that when I signed up so after going though the online course they tell me that I have till December to take the test icd 9 ( the one I've studied for four months). If I pass I will just have to take the icd 10. And if I don't pass then I will need to take the icd10 exam next. So either way I will have to continue to study and take another exam. I'm just tired and confused about the whole situation and the steps/road I'm on to get certified. I feel like sometimes I'm fighting a loosing battle.
 
In addition to what was already mentioned, know your guidelines. Pay attention to key terms in the question that will give indication to the approach, size, depth, etc... so you can be sure to select to correct code. There are no trick questions! Pace yourself, rule out the answers you know are wrong and read thoroughly so you capture the correct response. You got this! Good luck!
 
Kimberly, have the mind set that failure is not an option. I passed on the first try. You are right that what is almost the hardest part of the test is the 5 hours and 40 minutes to take the test. Sounds like a lot but it will be over before you know it. Bring snacks, bring drinks, dress in layers as there is no way to know the test room environment until you get there.
 
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