Before I doodle in my book, I want to know if anyone had an idea on writing notes in the CPT book. Something that would be useful before taking the CPC exam. I found some that were useful online, and I talked to someone who is taking a course and said that their school was instructing them on what to notes to write and why it would be useful. Some tips where don't highlight and use color pens to underline, write out subcategories on the top of the page when all you see nothing but codes, draw diagrams, and so on. Any tips?
Great question for the 'Industry-Related Discussions' section. Would you mind posting it there when you get a chance? Actually, I think I can do that for you.
Also, it's a great question to ask your instructor.
I have a question regarding notes when taking the CPC exam--
Are sticky notes allowed?
I've been highlighting & writing some notes on individual pages, but I now have quite a collection of sticky notes that I keep in the front of the book for quick reference.
No sticky notes are allowed. No loose papers, that are not bound in the book are allowed. They will take your books and hold them by the spine and shake them and if anything falls out, it's not allowed. You can have tabs, and they can actually be quite helpful. As far as tips on what notes to write in your code books, there are different things you may notice as you're studying that might be helpful, just jot them down (in pencil) near where you'll need it. Also, a good resource before your CPC exam is the study section of the Andrews coding course, that you will be given access to when it's time. There are also lots of posts and conversations that I personally found quite helpful there, and Instructor Debby left some posts regarding test taking tips, etc also. You will get lots of info from the AAPC website also, and that is included in an assignment during Module 3. I hope some of this helps!
Thanks for the information, Sara, although I was really hoping for the opposite answer regarding the sticky notes. :o) I'm working on the AAPC assignment in Module 3 now, and all I can think of, day & night, is getting ready to take the CPC test.
Hi Carol! I'm sorry if I discouraged you, but I'd hate to know you went to take the test and you had a lot of valuable info on your sticky notes and then got disqualified because they aren't allowed. There's nothing saying all the info you have on the sticky notes can't be transferred into your coding books (even if takes a while, it will be worth the effort knowing it's in them. There's a lot of room to jot down as many notes as you want, but just be careful, because, like Instructor Debby warns in her post, you can have your books disqualified for too much writing if the proctor at the testing sites feels it's too much, so use caution. It's stressful getting ready, but once you're there, you'll be so focused and working your way through the exam, you'll be amazed how much you've learned and how well you've been prepared for it, by Andrews and your hard work! I wish you the best of luck on your exam! You can do it!!
Tabs are very helpful. I found when I wrote some notes in my book, unless I put them in very obvious places, that I would forget where I placed them. :0) Part of that problem is because the test is timed and while you are taking the test and come across a question that you know you have a helpful note to, you end up wasting a lot of valuable time looking for that note, because you think "I know it's here somewhere" and start thumbing through every page at a rapid pace. This is a very frustrating process. So, my advice is to put notes in commonly looked at areas (at the beginning of each section) and then also on the same page you need them. Hope that helps.
Are we able to label the tabs if we use them? I also tended to put my notes near the main term in my icd-10-cm book. In the CPT I am only on the third chapter, so not any notes as of yet, except in my Kuehn, but that is not allowed into the testing sites, correct?
Yes, you can label your tabs and no, you can't take Kuehn to the CPC. You'll learn more as you get closer to test time about what is accepted and what isn't, both on the AAPC website and here on Moodle, in the CPC certification section. Only your coding books are allowed at the exam site. Good luck!