Written National

I will start off with my advice for the written national:

1. Take it early. Most of us took it the week after our clinical. Your brain WILL BE FRIED. And you will not be able to focus. You will be anxious about your results.
   


2. Just start reviewing (and in some cases learning for the first time) 1st year material. Really learn it, commit it to memory. There is a LOAD of information, and for some reason RDH's are suppose to know it all.


3. For me there wasn't ONE book that was most helpful. It was a combination of a few. I used the SLCC review book, a DH review book from the WSU library, the Perio book from 1st year, Wilkins, and the case studies from the decks.


4. Give yourself time to review, contemplate, apply, and review again.


5. Look at a lot of different case studies.

The written national board exam is taken at a testing center. The first half of 200 multiple questions is a broad base of questions. You get up to an hour lunch if you choose to take it. Then the second half is all case studies 150 questions. You have plenty of time, so take a break if you need to. The day I took my exam, the testing center was FREEZING, and you are not allowed to wear a coat. So dress in layers. Also, you are not allowed gum while taking the exam, this was a heart breaker for me. So just prepare yourself mentally if you need to.