Tips for passing the CHT!

I did it. 

I have imagined this moment for a long while. I finally passed the CHT!!! I say finally because the wait to hear your results is torturous and frankly it sucked! But, I guess in the end it was worth waiting for because it was positive. I wanted to write this post as a way of ending this chapter but also to impart any kind of advice I can to people in the same position. If I had to do it all of again (thank goodness, no), I would definitely do things a little differently with the unmatched value of hindsight. Here are some of my recommendations that I have learned the hard way through first hand experience. Please note that all of the following is just my opinion based on this experience.

1. Get yourself a study group, online or off, whatever works in your area or for your schedule. I placed an 'ad' if you can call it that on the HTCC website saying that I was interested in forming a study group for the May 2012 exam either online or in person. People contacted me from that ad and our little Skype group was born. We had 4 people but honestly I think you can have as little or as many as you want (although I would caution against a larger group - say 5/6+) as long as the members are accountable and reliable. If you have one other person that you can rely on and who can rely on you, then maybe that's all you need. In addition, the more people you have, the more conflicting schedules you run into but if you can work around that, then that's fine.  A larger group brings people from different backgrounds together (try and mix up the group to be PTs and OTs) which can be advantageous.

We used to meet once a week for the 3 months leading up to the exam week. Because there were 4 of us we split up chapters of this book to summarise and 'present' to the group during our skype sessions. We calculated that if we covered 2 chapters a week with the time we had we would have a few weeks before the exam for review. To be perfectly honest, just by summarising my chapters, I didn't feel I retained a whole lot of information. I gained the information through discussion and reviewing my summaries and testing myself. Towards the end it became a lot like paraphrasing. BUT, the weekly meets kept me accountable and in touch with everyone and they did help in discussing some concepts. Looking back, I do think that time may have been better used but it did serve some purpose. 

2. Attend a review course to connect with other candidates and to acquire information from a different source. The course I recommend is the one provided by ASHT which is held bi-annually, usually in April and October before the May and November exams. I only heard about this course 2 months before my test date and I anticipated that everyone at the course would be taking the exam that May. Not so. A lot of people were undecided about when they were taking the exam; planning on taking it November; or using the course as a general review of Hand Therapy and not taking the exam at all. I actually think taking the course a long time before you take the exam (i.e. take the course in May but plan on taking the exam in November) is very smart. The course gives you a review (it is not long enough to teach you everything, which is emphasized throughout the weekend) so it allows you to see what you know and where you need more work and it allows you to connect with other people and possible find study partners. The manual they provide is mostly the slide presentations of the speakers but it contains some great tidbits and must-know information. I highly recommend going for the full three days (not just the weekend) as the first day is anatomy review and definitely makes the course more worthwhile. Another reason to separate taking the review course from the exam is that I found going to the course so close to my exam date, freaked me out! I came home after the weekend with my mind spinning in a million different directions of what I needed to review and felt I didn't know, whereas had I taken the review course last November it would have kick started my studying and given me some kind of direction. 

3. Plan in advance that you are taking the exam but bare in mind that it seems to be the few months before you take it that really allow you to retain information. I have spoken to a lot of therapists studying for the CHT that start reviewing 6 months and longer for the exam. The consensus appears, however, that whilst you start reading your heavy textbooks months to years in advance, you don't really internalise that information until closer to the time. This point is really relevant to me because I didn't decide or know that I was going to take the exam until the end of January 2012 (exam date May 2012) and I'm sure for most people that would be far too short to start studying. I had special circumstances in that I had just moved from another state and was awaiting my license for my new state and thus was unable to work. [As a disclaimer, I studied internationally so it took a very long time to get my license sorted out (longer than 6 months) which is not normal!] For a long time (and right up until my results), I felt very insecure about the fact that I had left it pretty late to start preparing (3 1/2 months) whereas people in my study group had been studying for a lot longer. Obviously not being able to work I had a lot more time on my hands which is why I decided to go for it. However, if you are able to decide 6 months or 12 months before that you are planning on taking it, you can get all your ducks in a row and not stress yourself out about running out of time. Also everyone is different in terms of their working and home situation and you want to be able to give yourself a break if, for example, you have to attend a wedding or you have kids and can't study intensely every weekend. So long story, but if you plan in advance you can start collecting resources and gradually ease into it baring in mind that you'll need to crank it up as D-day approaches.  

4. Do not become overwhelmed with the resources out there. HTCC lists a monstrous list of resources from which you can study. It is physically impossible to read and retain all the knowledge in all those books, journals and DVDs. In addition, and I find this hard to believe, remember that this exam is supposed to test entry-level competence in Hand Therapy. Entry. So with that in mind, how can you possibly become familiar with every last ergonomics or kinesiology textbook out there. It's good to know these specialist books exist but just because it's on the list does not mean that you have to go and get them. Personally I feel I spent far too much money on excess resource materials that I ran out of time to even look at. Stick to the basics: 

• A good anatomy atlas (I recommend any Netter's - you can't go wrong - I have an old one that someone gave me when I was a first year student - anatomy doesn't change, but if you don't have one it's probably a worthwhile investment).
• The latest edition of Rehab of the Hand (currently and for the next few years it'll be the 6th) by Skirven et al (I used the 5th edition which honestly I think is fine and was given to me so I didn't have to buy it, but for future exams, use the 6th and definitely nothing earlier than the 5th).
• Look into getting the Purple Book actually known as Hand Rehabilitation: A Quick Reference Guide because there is a newer edition coming out in January 2013 and the current 2nd edition is almost $500 on amazon! I think the original price a few years ago was $60! So if by the time you are looking to prepare for the exam, the newer edition has not come out see if you can borrow the book, or buy it second hand (someone who has taken and passed the exam does not really need this book on a daily basis) or look for deals through their website on handtherapy.com - you can get your book heavily discounted when you purchase the exam questions package (they are the same people!).
• Purchase test questions. I used questions from this site and this one. I am a firm believer in simulating the environment as much as possible and the best way to do this is to get your hands on as many test questions as you can especially as HTCC does not officially release or endorse any test questions.
• Attend the ASHT review course if time and money permits (you can save costs by becoming a member or ASHT and by sharing a hotel room if you know someone else going, I also used miles and got my flight virtually free and resisted renting a car). If you're really organised you can see about 6 months in advance where the next course will be held and try to go to one closer to you. They are usually held in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago or St Louis but venues alternate so you may not get the venue you want at the time you want.
• If you feel particularly inept in a particular topic (e.g. shoulders, splinting or kinesio-taping) you can look into books that specialise in that area for a better understanding but for the most part it should all be in the Rehab of the Hand.

I spent a lot more money than is warranted on the above list and as I said with hindsight and in my opinion (no one else's) this is all you need provided you are very familiar with these materials. If you have the luxury of using up CEU money, look into courses where you feel you need more focus. As OTs we often feel a little out of our depth with shoulders, for example, but this is a big area within our profession as hand therapists so I encourage everyone to learn more about areas other than the hand and wrist for this exam. 

5. Decide ahead of time whether you are going to tell people you are taking the exam. Some people relish the pressure and the challenge of their whole world knowing, others cringe at the thought. It is often times unavoidable to keep it a complete secret but if you have a game plan from the beginning you are more likely to stick it. I tried not to tell anyone that didn't absolutely have to know but because I didn't have a job whilst studying, when people asked me what I was doing with myself, I felt like I had to account for my time and justify it as it was by no means a holiday! Most people outside of the OT world will not know what this exam is or the stresses that come with it and I have found because there is 6-8 week wait from when you actually take the exam to when you hear your results, most people beyond your inner circle forget that you even took it! You'll be reminding them when you pass! :)