Trying to pass the NREMT - need study tips

[medicgirl12]

Hey everyone,

I've taken the NREMT Paramedic exam twice now, and I just can't seem to pass this test. I review my textbook and notes, regularly. I've used a couple free test prep question sites, but it doesn't seem to be helping. These questions on the NREMT are just so tricky for me. I know, I know the information, but when I go to test, I just have trouble applying it... Does anyone have any suggestions to help me pass? I've looked into other test prep sites, but I'm not sure if it's worth the money. Has anyone used a test prep site? I've seen medictests.com, emtprep.com, jblearning.com, and emt-national-training.com. Does anyone have experience with these sites? Any suggestions would be awesome.

 

[NomadicMedic]

JB learning.

Search here. We discuss this same topics every week or so.

The answer is always the same. JB learning.

 

[Gurby]

In your other thread you said, "What I am doing right now to study is reading my textbook, and then taking quizzes on EMTprep."

IMO, passively reading a textbook is the worst possible way to study. Total waste of time. You read something, and by the time you get to the end of the page you've already forgotten everything you just read. There is just too much information there, you get overwhelmed and end up not retaining anything.

A better plan is, as you read through the textbook, pull out the key concepts and important details. It's too easy to read something in a book, nod and say "yeah I knew that". If the information is posed as a question on a flash card, you force yourself to recall the fact on your own. It's active vs passive, and much harder to delude yourself into thinking you knew it.

 

[Akulahawk]

Hey everyone,

I've taken the NREMT Paramedic exam twice now, and I just can't seem to pass this test. I review my textbook and notes, regularly. I've used a couple free test prep question sites, but it doesn't seem to be helping. These questions on the NREMT are just so tricky for me. I know, I know the information, but when I go to test, I just have trouble applying it... Does anyone have any suggestions to help me pass? I've looked into other test prep sites, but I'm not sure if it's worth the money. Has anyone used a test prep site? I've seen medictests.com, emtprep.com, jblearning.com, and emt-national-training.com. Does anyone have experience with these sites? Any suggestions would be awesome.

What I did for the NCLEX-RN (it tests in a similar manner) is that I would read the question, read the answers, then re-read the question while looking for any key words or phrases that might make a specific answer likely to be the "winner." Ask yourself "what is this question asking me or what does it want me to do?" Any answer that you say "Yes, that's the correct answer if... (pulls scenario that's not already part of the question)" is not going to be correct. The correct answer will be there, right in front of you. You must find the most correct answer, pulling from what you have learned in school, but stick within the "universe" of the question. Unless the exam explicitly tells you that a series of questions are related to each other, the only question that matters is the one in front of you. The previous one is gone so let it go bye-bye. The next one hasn't been chosen yet so don't worry about it.

There typically will be one or two obviously wrong choices, one will be correct in a "yeah, kind of" manner, and one will be the most correct answer where you don't have to "add" anything to the question to make it a "true" answer.

These exams are difficult by design and will challenge you. They will generally be straightforward and not require you to "add" anything to the info given to choose an answer. They will not try to trick you or mislead you but it will be possible to mis-read a question and come up with an incorrect answer and those "incorrect" answers given may be written for common mis-reads of that question. Sometimes there will be non-pertinent information in those questions. Look for what the question "wants" from you.

The next thing is that you've now see the exam twice. There are no surprises now for you. This isn't something that that can raise your anxiety level. It's old hat. You've been there, done that. You know the routine. Go check in, get settled, make sure you're following the rules, and when you're escorted to your station, settle in with your old friend, the computer. Breathe. Slowly, deeply, deliberately. You're relaxed and ready.

I have no experience with JB Learning but most of the folks here seem to swear by it. It's probably very, very similar in question design to the real thing.

Seriously, it could well be that it's not the knowledge of the material you lack but perhaps you're having difficulty parsing the questions. This kind of testing is unlike anything you've had in school. Yes, you eventually will reach a point where you're answering 50% of the questions incorrectly. Trust me, I felt like I'd failed the NCLEX-RN exam. If the exam is at your level of ability, you'll feel the same way. If you feel like you know it and it's easy, then the questions are too easy and are likely below passing standard. If you feel like "WTF, this exam couldn't get any harder, nobody could answer that..." then it's found your ability level and is challenging you. You might pass if you're at that point, but if your knowledge base is still below passing standard, you can still easily fail.

 

[Gurby]

A better plan is, as you read through the textbook, pull out the key concepts and important details. It's too easy to read something in a book, nod and say "yeah I knew that". If the information is posed as a question on a flash card, you force yourself to recall the fact on your own. It's active vs passive, and much harder to delude yourself into thinking you knew it.

I kind of forgot to mention the whole point I made the post at all...

Should have been, "pull out the key concepts and put them on flashcards. Review those flashcards every day until you have them memorized, then keep reviewing them but less frequently. Continue to make more flashcards and repeat. Flashcards are life.

 

[Akulahawk]

Yes, for some people, flashcards are an essential part of active learning because they do force you to read one side and recall the answer on the other. However they're only as good as the information that's placed on them. So when you're constructing your flash cards, make certain you're putting important and key concepts on them. I never did use them as they just don't work all that well for me.

 

[Bent Halligan]

Ive tried Fisdap, JBLearning, EMTPrep, and MedicTests. By far my favorite is Medic Tests. JBLearing is pretty close to the registry as far as format and questions go, but there is little instruction. Fisdap is unnecessarily difficult. I mostly just found it frustrating and kind of demoralizing. Although they say that if you pass Fisdap with a 75 or better you have a 99% chance at passing registry your 1st time. Medic Tests is the biggest bang for your buck. They have great tests and quizzes, but also alot of good instruction. They have many guides and learning tools that break down the difficult or confusing stuff. EMT prep is absolute crap. I have found more contradictory or just flat out wrong questions/answers than anything that helped out. Seriously, stay away from EMTPrep. As for the other 3, you cant go wrong. But Medic Tests gets my vote every time.