AMERICAN BOARD OF HEALTH PHYSICS

EXAMINATION PREPARATION GUIDE

This guide will help you prepare for the ABHP certification examination. However, use of the Guide by itself will not be adequate preparation for the exam. Successful candidates usually start their preparation months before the test. Preparation should include a careful review of health physics fundamentals and then, with equal vigor, review of applied aspects of health physics in several of the specialty areas. The suggested study references in Section 7 will help guide you. Joining either a formal or informal study group (particularly those that continue over a period of months) can assist you by forcing a systematic review of various topics and by exposing you to the knowledge of people expert in subjects which you are not familiar with.

The Board warns against approaching the exam in a casual fashion. We find that most unsuccessful candidates did not prepare adequately. In contrast, the successful candidates have usually planned and followed a comprehensive study program. The Board asked recent candidates about some of the factors contributing to their degree of success on the exam. The Board noticed that the single most important attribute of successful candidates was the amount of time spent studying for the examination. On average, those who passed in 1995 claimed to have spent an average of 300 hours in study.

Because candidates' credentials are reviewed carefully, the Board feels that all applicants declared eligible to take the examination have a good probability of passing. You can avoid the disappointment of poor performance by recognizing from the start that the exam will be a rigorous test of your professional knowledge. Your grade will represent, for the most part, the thoroughness of your preparation.

Now that you know the key to good performance on the examination, the Board wishes you success in achieving certification.

Exam Locations

The certification examinations are given one day each year. The exam is given at the site of the annual meeting of the Health Physics Society and, on the same day, at several other locations throughout the country. The exam sites for each year will be selected by the American Academy of Health Physics' Examination Site Selection Committee by February 1 of each year. All approved candidates will be sent a site selection survey form in early March listing the tentative examination sites. The candidate should indicate first and second choices of location and will be assigned to the first choice unless that site does not have enough candidates to warrant the examination being given there. All candidates will be notified of their definite exam site approximately 45 days prior to the examination date.

Exam Scheduling

Once a candidate is notified of eligibility to take an examination, the candidate is expected to appear at the next scheduled examination. Examination fees are non-refundable. Application material is only good for a two year period and must be resubmitted after two years. A candidate who is scheduled to take an exam may postpone it up to the moment before the exams are distributed. Once a candidate has received an exam, it must be submitted for scoring. Should the ABHP make policy changes that could affect a candidate's eligibility to take the exam once a candidate has been declared eligible by the admissions process, a candidate will remain eligible for the full period of initial qualification.

Re-examinations

After paying the exam fee, a candidate who fails the first examination may be admitted to the next examination without resubmitting an application if it is within two years of the application date. An application is only good for two years (two exam cycles). If a candidate passes one part of the exam, the candidate must pass the other part within a period of seven years, or must reapply and retake both parts. The candidate must notify the Board of his/her intention to retake the examination and submit the proper fee no later than January 15 of the year in which the examination is to be taken.

NOTE: Unless taking both parts of the exam at the same time, a candidate may not take Part II without having first passed Part I.

The examination has two parts.

Part I

Part I questions are used to evaluate a candidate's knowledge of the fundamentals of health physics.

Part I is made up of 150 multiple choice questions. The breakdown by subject matter follows the five Domains of Practice which are detailed in Section 4. The sub-areas shown for each domain give the typical subject matter covered in Part I questions. The number of Part I questions which fall in each domain is also shown in that section. Part I of the examination is constructed to test the knowledge of the fundamental aspects of health physics that is expected of any candidate meeting the qualifications for early admission to Part I. There will be questions contained in Part I that address fundamental knowledge associated with applied health physics. Academic preparation alone may not be adequate to answer these questions. However, the presence of these questions should not prevent a well-prepared candidate with no practical experience from successfully completing Part I of the Certification examination.

Each question has five possible answers from which to choose and requires thorough knowledge of the subject matter. For example, in questions that require calculations, answers other than the correct one are obtained by making some of the common calculational errors. Three hours are allowed to answer Part I (given in the morning of the examination day). Not all of the questions in Part I are replaced each year. As a consequence, this part of the examination is held in strict confidence and copies of past exams are not distributed. Section 8 of this Guide gives some typical Part I questions.

Part II

Part II questions are designed to test judgement, the ability to analyze and organize complex problems, and the use of practical skills at a high professional level. Candidates are given six hours in which to complete Part II (given in the afternoon of the examination day).

Standard slide rules and calculators may be used during the exam. No program discs, tapes or cards are permitted, and all calculators with "constant" memories must be demonstrated to contain no stored constants (other than pi or e) or stored programs.

The format of the Part II exam was modified in 1985. In the first section of each exam, there are now six questions on core topics of health physics. These first six questions will be graded for all candidates. (If one of these questions is left unanswered, the candidate will receive zero points for that question.) The topic areas that these questions examine are: personnel dosimetry (internal and external), shielding and activation, measurements and instrumentation, and biological effects of radiation (risk). These questions are selected so that each can be read and answered in a period of 10-15 minutes. Each question is worth 50 points and can include calculations, short essay, and/or serial-multiple-choice format.

The second section of the Part II exam contains eight problems. These problems are provided in one or a combination of the following formats: essay, calculational, serial-multiple-choice. The candidate must select any four of the eight questions provided. At least one question is provided for each of the following topical areas:

Each question from a topical area is designed such that a candidate who is experienced and capable in that area should have little difficulty with the answer. However, all questions are kept general enough so that a person without detailed experience in an area, but who has studied that area, could answer with a reasonable likelihood of success. Each question in the second section is designed to be read and answered in about 30 minutes and is worth 100 points.

Part II Subject Matter

In addition to the criteria noted above, the Part II questions are selected by subject matter to meet the percentage breakdown associated with the five Domains of Practice which are detailed in Section 4. The sub-areas shown for each domain provide the typical subject matter covered in Part II questions. Part II questions expect the candidate to show evidence of the ability to apply professional knowledge and judgement to the subject areas covered.

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