{"id":7535,"date":"2017-08-27T15:11:24","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T22:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/?p=7535"},"modified":"2020-07-18T16:25:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T23:25:48","slug":"how-i-studied-for-the-nbcot-occupational-therapy-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/2017\/08\/27\/how-i-studied-for-the-nbcot-occupational-therapy-exam\/","title":{"rendered":"How I studied for the NBCOT Occupational Therapy exam"},"content":{"rendered":"

I took the NBCOT earlier this month and got back my score a few days ago. I passed! \u00a0Some folks have asked how I studied for the NBCOT exam so here you go:<\/p>\n

I studied for about 5 weeks, 3-5 hours per day, 5 days a week. I received a score of 485 which appears to be a hair above average for first time new graduate test-takers (see image).<\/p>\n

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Tufts OT NBCOT scores<\/a> 2011-2013<\/p><\/div>\n

The most useful test prep was \u00a0AOTA NBCOT Prep<\/a>. In the end, I answered 839 questions and did 23 clinical scenarios. I initially had a poor percentage correct but I reviewed them repeatedly until I understood the reasoning behind most of the questions. I focused on the questions in “DOMAIN 3: Select interventions…” because 45% of the exam is comprised of those questions. It costs $150 for a one-year subscription and it is well worth it.<\/p>\n

The AOTA clinical simulations were very useful. One note: the AOTA responses were more helpful than the actual test responses. In the actual test, they’d usually respond with something noncommittal like, “Ok, you did the thing” instead of something like, “When you did that, you discovered a big issue.” I was initially thrown off a little by that!<\/p>\n

When I got something wrong on the AOTA questions and didn’t know why, I tracked down the references at the end of each AOTA question. I found the book and studied the section. Having PDF copies of some of the books was very helpful to find the reference quickly.<\/p>\n

I used a free search tool on my computer called Docfetcher<\/a> \u00a0that let me search my school notes, the AOTA PDFs, and the PDF textbooks quickly.<\/p>\n

I studied the AOTA PDFs and they were fairly helpful but not detailed enough as a study guide on their own.<\/p>\n

Googling question content was useful.<\/p>\n

OT Miri on Facebook<\/a> and Youtube <\/a>was helpful (2020 update: she now has her own website, I’m sure it’s very helpful: OTMiri.com<\/a>). Watching her videos was a welcome relief from reading the whole time. Scroll down to the beginning of her Facebook feed (late 2016) and start reading. Thanks OT Miri!<\/p>\n

I also found the Occupational Therapy Examination Review Guide 4th Edition<\/a> \u00a0to be useful. I did a few hundred questions, reading their reasonings very carefully. \u00a0I found the questions in this book a bit easier than the AOTA questions; getting 70% correct at the outset instead of 40% like on the AOTA questions was a real morale booster!<\/p>\n

I read through the NBCOT Exam Handbook<\/a> \u00a0and tried out the sample test on the NBCOT website. By reading up on the instructions, I knew that I could take a 7 minute break during the tutorial that came after the clinical simulations and before the multiple choice. I read how the test is criterion-based but not really criterion-based, that let me explain to people how the score I need to get (450) isn’t really something I can actively aim for while studying. I heard from many folks that I’d need about 70% on the AOTA Prep and that turned out to be about right.<\/p>\n

I used the highlighting and “marking” system on the actual test even though I couldn’t practice with it before the test. I couldn’t find a good demonstration of it anywhere. It lets you mark answers (ie. “I know it’s not A or C but I’ll come back to this question”) and come back to questions.<\/p>\n

Here are some useful websites I kept on bookmark:<\/p>\n