Last paragraph is the holy truth. I spent the entirety of the acupuncture exam shaking, biting my knuckles, throwing my hands in the air and (mentally) shouting obscenities. It was obscure to the level of an English exam with questions like “In Act III scene 3 of Othello, what is Iago’s 12th word?” I srsly guessed on about 70% of the test. I had no choice, I didn’t recognize the majority of the material.

1. Quick Study

Manual, test prep and study guide by Dr. Catherine Follis is designed for acupuncture students who are preparing for the Biomedicine portion of their NCCAOM.

I have no idea where they sourced things from but these questions weren’t CAM, weren’t Maciocia, were rarely even classical. I was absolutely convinced that I had failed. Imagine my surprise when it said “PASS” at the end. Now from everyone I’ve talked to, this has been their experience as well (though not everyone has passed it).

Examination Study Guide for Diplomate of Acupuncture has all the. Foundations of Oriental Medicine, Biomedicine, and Acupuncture with Point Location. Looking for the best acupuncture board review book? The Examination Workbook for Oriental Medicine is coined as. And a great study guide for those taking.

Quick Study

What gets me is the obscurity of what was tested. There was a LOT of points that NO ONE uses, there were case study questions with answers that came from nearly indecipherable methodologies.utter nonsense. And it certainly had very little to do with a typical TCM curriculum.

Now if you had a similar experience, then I don’t know how they’re picking questionsmy guess is a copy of Deadman and a fistful of darts. I had to go to Brooklyn to take mine–that was when we could take the boards as students so I went in the fall.

We had live models for the point exam and had paste dots on them on Sunday. I was so lucky to be in one of the first groups. On Saturday I forget how many hours we had to sit in the big room with the main test, which I managed to complete. I remember doing better than I thought I would because there were a number of poorly worded questions. Thank heavens for the test prep because some of them had bizarrely worded questions as well–and that’s why I knew a couple of the answers.

I have done all my exams in 1999. I mean CA board and NCCAOM. I was coming fresh off the school (graduated in July 99) and done all the testings until the end off the year.

I think if you are doing it right after school helps you to fill out some paperwork in a timely manner and also sends transcripts, too. Of course you should pay for services, and also there is an instruction comes with applications, too. You just have to read and follow it. If it asks for pictures then you should take some, you cannot copy from drivers license or passport, and if it asks for signature, like any other document it should be done in a public notary. Usually what you are being tested it is not practical in life and practice.

It is something that has to be done! Everyone is doing it, so are you.

The BEST advise be PATIENT, you are dealing with government and/or an organization that does not have a head and a tail. The worse is when they loose the paperwork and you should do it again. Good luck you all, I am glad I AM DONE:). The NCCAOM herb test is $#!t! The best students I went to school have the hardest time.

Seriously, I can get butt FV@Ked and humiliated in prison! If you read the disclaimer for their practice tests, it basically states that it will not help you whatsoever. There is no way to appeal the test you get, and the notes in the front of the study outline basically say they can give you whatever grade they damn please. A true adaptive test should shut down as soon as it has determined your level of competancy, usually at around 75 questions. This insult to education forces you to take that last 25-30 questions. This is important, because the questions are weighted in the points they give or take away. If you are really good, those last questions are hell, and they cost you as much as six points for a wrong answer.

So, if you miss as many as 5 of the hardest questions, you just failed the test. I know people who took the herb exam and purposely gave incorrect answers to the first 15 questions, and passed because that lowers the scale towards the end. There’s no way to make these people accountable for these exams, because they answer to no one. They use a British company to administer the tests because you can’t ask for an audit of records from an overseas company. The NCCAOM is CROOKED, CROOKED, CROOKED!

I didn’t say they’re breaking the law: I said they are crooked. Unfortunately you have to deal with them; there is no one else. Treat them like drug dealers or gun dealers— do NOT trust them. I certainly understand the frustration and anger over the NCCAOM’s Herbology examination, having failed it twice myself. I have passed 4 of their other exams and my state board. These certification exams are supposed to ensure ENTRY LEVEL KNOWLEDGE. The NCCAOM has failed in 2 important areas.

1) Not listing the required herbs and formulas to be tested on adequately. Only this year have they given any list at all, and it lists only formulas. It is unethical to test someone on material without informing them what the material is. 2) The exam questions are of poor quality. A) There were several questions that were structured in a, pardon the tern, “Chinglish” format. This leads to errors in interpretation of the question or answers. B) There were also uncommonly used names for herbs which causes inability to identify the herb.

C) Questions of unusual uses of herbs. Also, the practice exams incorrectly scores answers.

So I would assume the exam does the same. I am looking for guidance on the best and most efficient way to prepare for this exam, “AGAIN”. I work full time and have a family.

I have spent a huge amount of time, energy, and $$$$$$ on books and online programs. And still I hear from fellow test takers that those methods did not help them pass. I passed everything but Acupuncture with Point location. I have found them all to be very difficult-I am preparing to take APL for the Third Time (!) I have missed it by very little both times I took it. I know that I got really nervous in the last 10 questions or so, scared to see ‘how I did’.I’m wondering about that missing them early on to set the bar lower later bit.This whole ‘adaptive’ thing does have my head swimming. And the questions ARE sooo obscure.

Supplemental points in the back of CAM, some I kind find Anywhere, not Deadman, Cam or Maciocia anyway. I tried the NCCAOM practice tests. I read the study guide outline, I am not sure what to make of the KSA’show will they word the questions to differentiate these?

The ‘lifetime limit’ of being able to take the test a maximum of 5 times in your whole life has added to my nerve stretching as wellany ideas or suggestions? I am studying chapters 17 and 18 in CAM-do they really expect us to fully memorize every single formula in there? Any suggestions for that??

Thank you so much for this post. I am in the process of studying for the NCCAOM exams and am realizing that it is not just the enormous amount of material that I need to worry about, it is like the test itself is working against me. This is daunting for sure. But it is always so helpful to read about people who have taken it and all the things they did to help them get through it. I had unbelievable problems with the NCCAOM and found them to be very uncooperative. It is unfortunate that this entire process is not about being a good practitioner, but seems to be absolutely about money and bureaucracy.

The best thing I can do is get through them and never ever have to take them again. Many thanks for your helpful post.