# National Registry



## coretta715 (Jun 26, 2015)

I just took my national registry exam and I only got 70 questions.What does that mean?


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## chaz90 (Jun 26, 2015)

It means you had 70 questions. 

Check the website sometime Monday and hopefully results will be up.


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## coretta715 (Jun 26, 2015)

Hahhaha you are funny. I'm nervous and I just want to know if it's a good thing or bad that I didn't get the full 120 questions.


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## StCEMT (Jun 26, 2015)

It usually seems to be a good thing, but there is really only one way to find out.


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## coretta715 (Jun 27, 2015)

not posted yet


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## Angel (Jun 27, 2015)

Literally hundreds of people have tried to outsmart the test and figure out what their cut off number means.  It means nothing. It is arbitrary, you either passed or you didn't and the only way to find out is to wait until you get the results.


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## gotbeerz001 (Jun 27, 2015)

Angel said:


> Literally hundreds of people have tried to outsmart the test and figure out what their cut off number means.  It means nothing. It is arbitrary, you either passed or you didn't and the only way to find out is to wait until you get the results.


I would not say it is arbitrary; At 70 questions I would say you either nailed it or bombed it.


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## Angel (Jun 27, 2015)

I consider it arbitrary because they same could be said for 120q's and everything in between.


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## Chimpie (Jun 27, 2015)

@coretta715 , I moved this to the NREMT section of the forum.


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## Carlos Danger (Jun 27, 2015)

It's not arbitrary.....the number of questions you get is based on a mathematical algorithm that takes into account the assigned difficulty value of each question. Someone who passes in 70 questions did better than someone who needed 90 or 100 or 120 questions to reach the passing threshold. 

That said, there is no way to figure out how well you did based on the number of questions you got, because there is no way to know the difficulty value of each question, or how it fits into the algorithm. You'll just drive yourself crazy trying. A relatively small minority of people who pass do so in only 70 questions, so going beyond that means nothing. 

Also, as long as you pass, it doesn't matter how well or poorly you do on the exam. At all. In any way. These exams are a very poor measure of intelligence or skill as a clinician. Or, some would argue, even your grasp of the tested material.


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## Angel (Jun 27, 2015)

That's why I said arbitrary. Because the number doesn't matter. Why are you making it more complicated than that.

Whatever the case....question answered so I kinda don't see the point in going back and forth but by all means....


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## Akulahawk (Jun 28, 2015)

The only thing that having the computer shut off at 70 questions means is that you were asked 70 questions and at that point, you'd satisfied a pass/fail rule at the minimum number of questions. You either did very well or very poorly. As soon as you go beyond the minimum, it means you were too close to the pass/fail line for the computer to clearly resolve whether or not you passed or failed. 

The computer will find _your_ limits so regardless if you pass or fail, it will not be an easy exam for you.


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## californiaEMT13 (Jun 28, 2015)

coretta715 said:


> I just took my national registry exam and I only got 70 questions.What does that mean?



you will never know just have to wait it out ;/ i took my test last week stopped at 50 questions i cried all night bc i thought i bombed it!!! turns out i passed) goodluck to you!!!!!!!!!!


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## Carlos Danger (Jun 28, 2015)

Angel said:


> That's why I said arbitrary. Because the number doesn't matter. Why are you making it more complicated than that.
> 
> Whatever the case....question answered so I kinda don't see the point in going back and forth but by all means....



Look up the word "arbitrary", and while you are at it, the word "algorithm".

The number of questions you are asked is the exact opposite of arbitrary.


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## gotbeerz001 (Jun 28, 2015)

It is safe to say that at 70 questions you either nailed it or bombed it. 
At 120, you were likely selected to answer all questions as a QA tool regardless of how you did. 
Everything in between is everything in between.

By the end of my medic NREMT I was being asked extremely difficult questions and choosing to administer drugs I had never heard of because all the ones I was familiar with were wrong for one reason or another. 
I passed in the low 70s.


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## Jaycee121 (Jun 30, 2015)

Just took my Registry for Paramedic. Cut off on me at 90!!!!!


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## medicdan (Jun 30, 2015)

If anyone's interested in the psychometric model behind this exam, or the algorithm controlling it, it's the Rasch Model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasch_model).


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