November Preparation Guide for the Certification Exam. Radiological Technology Nuclear Medicine Technology Radiation Therapy Magnetic Resonance

Transcription

1 Preparation Guide for the Certification Exam Radiological Technology Nuclear Medicine Technology Radiation Therapy Magnetic Resonance 1

2 1. Purpose and scope of prep guide This preparation guide was developed by the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT) to assist candidates who intend to write a national certification exam. The guide provides information on the certification exam process, exam development and resources for preparing for the exam, and exam administration. The first part of the guide sets the national certification exam in the context of the Canadian healthcare system and describes the certification exam process. The second part of the guide describes the exam: what it tests, how it is developed and scored, what strategies and tools c a n b e u s e d for exam preparation, release of results, and the process to follow in the event of an appeal of exam results is desired. This guide is designed for use by all exam candidates: graduates of Canadian accredited programs and internationally educated medical radiation technologists (IEMRTs). The CAMRT exams are developed by discipline subject matter experts who are recruited by the CAMRT to develop exam questions, validate the exam and set the passing score. The CAMRT exams are deliver online by Pearson VUE, a leading computer-based testing company with many locations throughout Canada. Exam candidates book an appointment to write their exam through the Pearson VUE site after being approved by the CAMRT. About CAMRT in the context of the Canadian healthcare system Founded in 1942 by a coalition of provincial associations, the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT) is Canada s national professional association and certifying body for medical radiation technologists and therapists across the country. As the professional association for over 12,000 members, CAMRT supports and advocates for its membership by providing an annual general conference, continued professional development, professional liability insurance and entry-to-practice competency profiles which indicates the competency required for safe and effective practice at entry-level in Canada. As a certifying body, the CAMRT develops and administers national certification exams for the disciplines of magnetic resonance, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and radiological technology. The exams test against a pre-determined standard that is reflective of the competency required to practice in the current Canadian healthcare environment. They are developed by subject matter experts from each Canadian province. CAMRT is committed to ensure the highest possible standards in the certification process and practice requirements for each discipline. Nationally certified technologists and therapists apply specialized knowledge, clinical skills and judgment to provide diagnostic imaging and therapeutic healthcare services in a variety of 2

3 healthcare environments. Their ability and judgment in the provision of patient care through the use of technology for diagnostic and therapeutic services to patients and various healthcare team members makes them integral partners in the collaborative delivery of patient care. All Canadian provincial authorities for medical radiation technologists except for the province of Quebec recognize the CAMRT certification exam as the entry-to-practice standard, to ensure safe and effective practice. The CAMRT develops this exam on behalf of all provinces. Reciprocity exists with Quebec allowing students from Quebec programs who write the Quebec exam to practice in other Canadian provinces following approval from provincial regulatory authorities. 3

4 2. About the exam 2.1 The competency-based model The CAMRT develops and validates with all stakeholders national competency profiles for entry to practice in the MRT disciplines. The competency profile is a document that describes the outcomes or competencies that must be achieved in an education program for entry-level practice that is safe and effective. The profiles are used by the education programs to develop curriculum that will provide the students with the knowledge and clinical skills required to achieve the competencies listed in the profiles. The competency profiles are formatted into modules that group competencies into categories. Each competency must be achieved in an education program. It is important that you read the profiles carefully, with attention to content and required competency levels. This will help you focus your preparation for writing the certification exam The competencies are the behavioural outcomes that integrate knowledge, skills, abilities and judgement. A competency-based approach to exam development is one that tests these behaviours, as opposed to testing direct recall of an individual's knowledge from textbook information. Exam candidates who completed their education in a system where the knowledge-based approach is used for development of exam questions may have difficulty with a competencybased, multiple choice exam. The competency-based model focuses on the application of knowledge in a clinical environment. Questions are asked from the point of view of how you use your knowledge to practice as opposed to the direct recall of that knowledge: think how you work/practice. The CAMRT has developed a module on How to Write a Competency-Based Exam which provides information on competency-based learning and testing with tips on how to write a multiple question exam. 2.2 The Exam The national certification exam is built from an exam blueprint that is developed from the competency profiles. An exam blueprint for each discipline-specific certification exam can be found on the CAMRT website. The blueprint provides information on: exam structure question type (independent and situation-based) percentage of questions per competency categories weighting per competency level 4

5 An exam blueprint ensures that the same sets of competencies are being tested, to the same level of competence, even though exam questions change from one sitting to another. The blueprint is a valuable tool in your preparation for writing the exam. It will help you focus your studies and identify the level of importance of competency areas based on critical importance and frequency of competencies occurring in practice. The exam questions are prepared, reviewed and validated by expert panels with representation across all provinces. The experts selected to participate on the exam panels are educators both didactic and clinical instructors, and direct patient care providers. This is a complex process, conducted with the assistance of psychometric experts. The exam is 185 multiple choice questions, delivered as a computer based exam with both stand alone and case-type multiple choice questions. Images, graphs, etc. will be used with some questions. This is a four (4) hour exam. The exam will continue to be offered three (3) times a year. However, with the change to computerbased testing and in order to accommodate all students, a window of one week, Monday to Friday, will be provided at each of the 3 sittings, for exam candidates to schedule their exam writing day and time. Special accommodations are considered for writing a CAMRT certification exam. Please read the accommodations policy carefully and follow all instructions. CAMRT provides a number of resources to help the exam candidate in all disciplines prepare for the exam. 1. Practice exam for each discipline with 100 sample exam questions that can be used as a practice exam. The rationales for the correct answer and incorrect answers are provided, along with textbook references. 2. Glossary and abbreviations - A list of terminology for each discipline 3. Textbooks used to reference the exam questions 4. How to Write a Competency-Based Exam module 5. Canadian Practice in Medical Radiation Technology module 6. Demo for navigating the exam online 2.3 Exam scoring The passing score for the CAMRT certification exam is set by the Exam Validation Committee (EVC). There is an EVC for each discipline; the EVC is composed of members, with representation from each province. They must be CAMRT members and be experts in their discipline. The EVC members approve the exam, participate in the procedure used to establish the passing score, and approve the passing score for each exam. The method used to set the passing score for these exams is a modified Angoff method. With this method, each exam question is rated based on the expected success rate of a minimally competent technologist f o r safe and effective practice. For each exam question, the experts 5

6 answer the question What percentage of minimally competent, entry level technologists would be expected to answer this item correctly. These ratings are then averaged to obtain a passing score for the total exam. Eligible candidates are permitted a maximum of four (4) attempts to successfully complete the certification examination (one initial write and three (3) rewrites) within a five-year time period. See the CAMRT exam rewrite policy. Once all the experts have rated the questions, the ratings are collated and the average rating is calculated for each question. These ratings are then averaged to obtain a passing score for the total exam. 6

7 3. The Exam Administration 3.1 Graduates of accredited Canadian programs To be eligible for certification, candidates must complete a CMA-accredited medical radiation technology (MRT) program in one of the four exam disciplines. CMA-Accredited programs are posted on the CAMRT website. 3.2 Internationally educated medical radiation technologists (IEMRTs) Candidates who completed a medical radiation technology program outside Canada are assessed for eligibility to write the exam by the CAMRT or by a provincial regulatory body, depending on the province where the candidate wishes to practice. IEMRTs who completed the assessment process successfully a r e e l i g i b l e t o a p p l y t o w r i t e t h e e x a m. 3.3 Online Exam application, schedules and fees, exam accommodations The CAMRT certification exam application is accessed through the secure area of the CAMRT website. Information regarding exam schedules and fees is available on the CAMRT website. Candidates who require special needs accommodations for writing the exam must submit the supporting documentation at the time of the application. The radiological technology exam and the magnetic resonance exam are available in English and French. If you write the exam in French and want access to the English version it will be provided on request. It is important you follow all instructions provided on how to navigate between the two exams to ensure successful completion of the computer-based exam. 7

8 3.4 Exam notice 1. CAMRT will send a notice confirming the receipt of your application to write the exam and payment of exam fee. 2. Approximately three (3) months prior to writing the exam, Pearson VUE will send a notice with your Pearson VUE client candidate ID number and instruct you to schedule your exam writing day and time at a writing site of your choice from their list of writing sites. For the CAMRT landing page on the Pearson VUE site and information on the Candidates Rules Agreement for writing the exam, please see The Rules Agreement provides information on all rules that must be followed prior and during the exam, what cannot be taken into the exam writing room, breaks etc. PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT DOCUMENT! 3. Prior to the exam, CAMRT will send you a notice with a link to a demo on how to write a computerbased exam that you can access 10 times before writing and become familiar with the format of the computer-based exam. It will provide information on how to: Select an answer Change an answer Move forward and backward between questions i. You can skip a question and go back to it later Review questions at any time during the exam Monitor how much time is left on the exam Use the calculator Zoom an image 3.5 Reporting of Results Exam results are NOT released by telephone, fax or . A notice will be sent to you when the results are posted on the CAMRT website. A candidate who achieves success on the certification exam will be issued a Pass. There will be no numerical marks given to certification exam candidates who pass the certification exam. Certificates will be mailed to successful exam candidates within four (4) weeks of the exam result date. Please ensure your mailing address is correct by updating your contact information in the secure area of the CARMT website. Unsuccessful candidates will receive an analysis of their performance on the certification exam. The Exam Performance Profile provides: the candidate s total raw score (number of questions they had correct) the raw score required for a pass a breakdown of candidate s performance by Competency Profile module a breakdown of successful candidates performance by Competency Profile module (average # of correct answers provided by candidates who passed the exam in each module) The Exam Performance Profile is viewable on the exam candidate s online profile on the CAMRT website, located under the certification exam result. CAMRT provides this information to allow the unsuccessful candidate an opportunity for remedial 8

9 preparation. Remedial preparation is strongly recommended to all candidates who have failed two (2) attempts. Existing research indicates that a candidate s performance may improve for the first two (2) rewrites, and starts declining significantly after that. 9

10 IMPORTANT: A candidate with a borderline result those with a total number of correct answers within three (3) marks of the passing raw score are remarked to confirm the number of correct answers BEFORE the candidate s result is released. Should a candidate wish to have the exam remarked, please send a written request to the manager of certification at certification@camrt.ca.the fee for a manual remark is $75.00, payable by cheque or credit card. The exam candidate also has the right to appeal the result on their exam. Please see the Appeal Policy. CAMRT Certification Exam Confidentiality This is a high stakes, entry-to-practice exam for a healthcare profession where ethical behaviour, professionalism, integrity and honesty are of essential importance in the delivery of safe and effective health care services to patients, other healthcare colleagues and communities. These attributes and behaviours must also be applied to the writing of the exam. Any form of cheating is unethical behaviour and shall result in sanctions. If cheating has been determined, the candidate will be disqualified from the exam and denied future opportunities to access the certification exam. The exam questions are confidential and are the property of the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT). Exam candidates are prohibited from disclosing the content of the exam or sharing any information the exam contains with any individual except CAMRT. Reproduction of exam content in any format is prohibited by copyright laws. END. 10