The dreaded ACP Exam....

RyanMidd

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No problem. Questions were tough to study for; they go for a very wide range, and also a broad spectrum of difficulty. Some questions were as easy as:
"You are forced to provide ventilation for your 34-year-old patient. How many breaths do you give him per minute?", obviously answering 12-20.

Other questions were not so straightforward, and made you think about obscure references you learned at your school, like;
**test question and answers removed**

The answer for that one still eludes me, but I'm sure there is some Act in your notes that describes it in detail. Some of the questions were straight off of the EMR ACP exam, from when I took it last year, such as those at highest risk for suicide (those who have a plan and description of their suicide is the textbook description), and there were several EMT-level questions about drop-sets and calculating how many gtt/min, etc.

I'll have to wait and see how I did, but the scenarios were fairly straightforward as well: one Medical scenario tested your ability to administer 1-2 medications (including 6 Rights, indication, contraindications, etc), and how well you respond to changing patient presentation. The Trauma was quite simple, and just looked at your abilities to prioritize treatments in the proper order. For Trauma, just remember that if its leaking, plug it. If it's floppy, splint it. If its a funny color, look at it closer.

Personally, I am not very studious when it comes to cramming before tests. I skimmed some parts of my texts that I thought were important (the COPD conditions, Obstetric emergencies, and baseline vital signs for ALL age groups, from newborns to the elderly). It served me fairly well. I also skipped some fairly major parts, though, and gambled that they wouldn't have much presence on the test. In the case of ECGs, this was true, as only 1 out of the 200 questions was the interpretation of a strip.

Just practice your scenarios (WITHOUT adding in all the silly things like sclera/conjunctiva, edema, etc), and ask only for the things that are actually on the checklist. You don't get extra marks for asking 6 questions about a body part that doesn't matter, so ask the important ones and move on. And for your own sake, know your meds inside and out. Just hand the GAP Module medication sheets to a friend or family member, and have them fire random questions about meds at you all day. Annoying, but effective, especially if they get creative. (i.e "I'll make you a sandwich if you can tell me what the 9 contraindications for Nitroglycerine are").
 
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ffemt8978

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Please don't post actual test questions and answers here.
 
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Wee-EMT

Wee-EMT

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No problem. Questions were tough to study for; they go for a very wide range, and also a broad spectrum of difficulty. Some questions were as easy as:
"You are forced to provide ventilation for your 34-year-old patient. How many breaths do you give him per minute?", obviously answering 12-20.

Other questions were not so straightforward, and made you think about obscure references you learned at your school, like;
**test question and answers removed**

The answer for that one still eludes me, but I'm sure there is some Act in your notes that describes it in detail. Some of the questions were straight off of the EMR ACP exam, from when I took it last year, such as those at highest risk for suicide (those who have a plan and description of their suicide is the textbook description), and there were several EMT-level questions about drop-sets and calculating how many gtt/min, etc.

I'll have to wait and see how I did, but the scenarios were fairly straightforward as well: one Medical scenario tested your ability to administer 1-2 medications (including 6 Rights, indication, contraindications, etc), and how well you respond to changing patient presentation. The Trauma was quite simple, and just looked at your abilities to prioritize treatments in the proper order. For Trauma, just remember that if its leaking, plug it. If it's floppy, splint it. If its a funny color, look at it closer.

Personally, I am not very studious when it comes to cramming before tests. I skimmed some parts of my texts that I thought were important (the COPD conditions, Obstetric emergencies, and baseline vital signs for ALL age groups, from newborns to the elderly). It served me fairly well. I also skipped some fairly major parts, though, and gambled that they wouldn't have much presence on the test. In the case of ECGs, this was true, as only 1 out of the 200 questions was the interpretation of a strip.

Just practice your scenarios (WITHOUT adding in all the silly things like sclera/conjunctiva, edema, etc), and ask only for the things that are actually on the checklist. You don't get extra marks for asking 6 questions about a body part that doesn't matter, so ask the important ones and move on. And for your own sake, know your meds inside and out. Just hand the GAP Module medication sheets to a friend or family member, and have them fire random questions about meds at you all day. Annoying, but effective, especially if they get creative. (i.e "I'll make you a sandwich if you can tell me what the 9 contraindications for Nitroglycerine are").





Wow thanks! Sounds like you did just fine! One more question ( I promise!). Would it be beneficial to take a A&P class before the exam? (I took one a couple years ago which still counted for credit at my school for this year)
 

RyanMidd

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I guess it depends how comfortable you are with your A&P. I found my textbook and a sports med class I did back in high school to be sufficient. AHASTI also offers a free ACP prep day for their students about 2-3 days before the test, and classmates told me that it was mostly running scenarios and having a few last minute questions answered.
 

jochi1543

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Personally, I am not very studious when it comes to cramming before tests. I skimmed some parts of my texts that I thought were important (the COPD conditions, Obstetric emergencies, and baseline vital signs for ALL age groups, from newborns to the elderly). It served me fairly well. I also skipped some fairly major parts, though, and gambled that they wouldn't have much presence on the test. In the case of ECGs, this was true, as only 1 out of the 200 questions was the interpretation of a strip.

Interesting to know, ECG was gonna be one of the few things I planned on reviewing thoroughly.
 
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