Radiography PREP Program Review and Exam Preparation, Seventh Edition

This information posting is specifically forthe California Department of Public HealthRadiography X-Ray Supervisor and Operator exam for physicians only.It’s very important to understand that this is not an easy exam. You will need to set aside at least 20 hrs for study. The PDF study guide suggests that the material can be read through in about 6 hours, which is probably true, but unless you are a rare genius, you won’t retain much from this brief perusal.Realistically, reading it twice is only the beginning!This advice comes from my personal experience studying for and taking the exam. Not everyone will have the same experience, but I can tell you that many a physician has failed this exam, and if you are not careful, you will only be added to the long list of frustrated physicians who feel that the exam was created only for Radiologists taking their national boards!This is the fact. Physician examinees are taking everything (except positioning material) that the 2 year Radiography students take on their boards after a full 2 years of study! And you are expected to take this exam with only a “few” hours of study??? Covering foreign material???Okay, so you’re a physician, you’ve studied a whole lot longer and more intense than this in years past, but the truth is, this is board material. It is a board exam. And you haven’t studied material like this for many years, and realistically, most of this is information you have NEVER studied and know nothing about.A physician friend of mine failed this twice, and never tried again. I failed it my first attempt and didn’t know what to change, because I thought I did everything right. I am triple boarded. Never failed a board. I never study for any of my recertification exams and always do well. But even so, I failed this exam and I was exasperated!One of the problems I had was the false report listed on the internet. One “testimonial” on the Radiologic Health Branch web site, stated that the test was the easiest exam they’d ever taken and they read through the PDF study guide once and completed the exam in 17 minutes - Pure lies!The fact is, this is pathologically misleading, and anyone who trusts this advice and follows it, will feel most betrayed, and complete the exam with many regrets, as well as being $250 poorer.So what do you need to do?Follow this advice and you should do well. At the very least, you will have an excellent strategy that will result in future success if you are diligent in your preparation.Read the PDF Study Guide titled,Syllabus On Radiography, Radiation Protection, available from theCalifornia Department of Public HealthRadiologic Health Branch web site.See:http://www.cdph.ca.gov/pubsforms/Guidelines/Documents/RHB-RadiographySyllabus.pdfThis IS your study guide, designed for physicians preparing for THIS exam.NOTE: The guide is rather brief and doesn’t do much for explaining the technical details you will be tested on. It is ONLY a guide and very few of you will be able to pass the exam, briefly studying it alone. If you’re a genius - go for it. If you’re something less - read on…I suggest that you read the PDF twice to begin with. This will provide a good orientation to what you need to know.NOTE: My big mistake with my first attempt, was that I didn’t realize that the numerous appendices are ALL testable material. So I blissfully ignored all of them. Wow, what a colossal blunder!I bought 3 study books on Amazon, all intended for Rad Tech students. But only one of them will do you much good.1. Mosby's Comprehensive Review of Radiography: The Complete Study Guide and Career Planner This is a well written book with high reviews. But the style is brief and very abridged! It will work if you lack other options, but honestly, I didn’t do much with it, as it was simply too condensed. Your Study Guide PDF is already concise, you don’t need a repeat of what you already have.2. Lange Q&A Radiography Examination, Ninth Edition Wow, what a mistake! Thousands of questions, but trying to identify those that apply to you is a nightmare! This is written for Rad Techs studying for their boards. It’s conceivable that those questions that directly cover the material you need, would likely be useful. However, there is no way to precisely extract only those questions you need. Thus, you would waste many hours looking over hundreds of questions that don’t pertain to you. Unless you are taking the exam for the 3rd or 4th time, I would advise that you stay away from this book and concentrate on the book below.3. Radiography PREP Program Review and Exam Preparation, Seventh Edition Now this was a very good book, with high reviews as well. Detailed enough to explain the complicated material in your PDF, but concise enough to keep you from wasting too much of your time. This is what I used for 98% of my book study - outside of the PDF study guide.My approach was to read everything in this book that pertained to what was covered in the PDF. I used the index to read everything I found in the PDF and it really helped a lot!I then made about 300 questions covering everything in the PDF that appeared to be testable material - and I memorized every single question that I made.When I re-took the exam, it was actually an enjoyable experience! There were about 5 questions that were never covered in the PDF. Unless I was lucky, I probably missed those.About 50% of the remaining questions were straight from the book and my study questions. The remaining 50% were strongly related to the study questions and PDF material, but were twisted in such a way, that you needed to have a reasonable grasp of the matter. This is why the book was so useful. It provided enough additional information that a more comprehensive understanding was possible. Without the book, be prepared for a whole lot of exam trepidation and much frustration.Study hard. Read the corresponding material found inRadiography PREP Program Review and Exam Preparation, Seventh Editionand if necessary make your own study questions.I wish you the very best, and may the Lord bless your efforts!Randy

Great book! If you're studying for your ARRT exam, this book is very helpful. The author also runs the Rad Review Easy website. Another great tool in preparing for the registry exam. Everything is explained simply and succinctly here and makes for a great review tool. Also inside the front and back covers are kind of like a condensed version of the radiology program. Math formulas, conversions, etc. This book definitely helped me pass my ARRT exam! Thanks!!

I bought this book for my Kindle my last semester in x-ray school. It covers every topic that the ARRT says will be on the registry exam. I studied this and made an 86 on my exam, so I was sure glad I had this. I would keep my kindle with me wherever I went and would read a few pages at a time on areas I thought I was having trouble with.

Great book. I recommend this to anyone who has to take the ARRT. I also recommend purchasing a subscription to rad review easy as well so after u complete reading a unit u can test yourself over that unit because this book only has a 10 question mini test after each chapter and one review test at the end of the book.

Alot of information. I feel this book will help prepare me for the boards. I like the layout of the book as well.

This book was much better for registry review then rad exam book was. If only used rad easy and rad exam, would have never passed the test the first time. Was even better cause in electronic form so I could have it on my ipad.

I'm an orthopedic surgeon who just moved to California and had to take this ridiculous ARRT test. This book was enormously helpful. I studied it for 3 days, took some notes, and passed without incident.

IMHO the Q & A book is all you need. Unless you didn't pay any attention at all during the entire program, the QA book gives you brief descriptions of the answers and I felt that was enough. So its not that this is a poorly done book by any means, just unnecessary I think.