Exam Tips and Tricks
National Board Exam Test Preparation Tips
Like the most important minute of any coaching session is the minute before it starts, the most important part of studying for this exam is what you do leading up to the exam.
Begin studying two months before the exam
- Create a plan for studying and stick to it. Study with others you know are taking the exam during the same window. Allow 2-3 months prior to the exam for reading/meeting/studying.
- Study! Study! Study! This exam is tough. And practice, practice, practice. One of the best ways to be sure you know the 4 components well is to coach (coaching structure, coaching process, health & wellness, and ethics/legal). So, practice with clients. Of course, you should study all sections of the exam; however, most of the exam focuses on the coaching process and Health & Wellness, so focus most of your studying in those areas.
- Understanding Test Item Framework
- The structured approach used is designed to ensure every question accurately assesses a candidate’s ability to apply core coaching competencies in real-world scenarios. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) recommends that every NBHWC test question be framed as a coaching scenario and include the following components:
- Pertinent information about the client (age, gender, etc.)
- The coaching setting
- The client’s reason for seeking coaching
- Brief description of the coach-client conversation
- The test questions (aligned to a specific content area and coaching competency)
- At least 4 possible answer
- You may find that not every test question strictly follows this format, yet this framework sets the tone for the majority of questions you will answer.
- The structured approach used is designed to ensure every question accurately assesses a candidate’s ability to apply core coaching competencies in real-world scenarios. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) recommends that every NBHWC test question be framed as a coaching scenario and include the following components:
Download/read the current study materials provided by the NBHWC, links are below. They all come from here: https://nbhwc.org/resources-for-coaches/.
- Health & Wellness Coaching Certifying Examination Content Outline
- Health and Wellness Coach Practice Exam
- Bulletin of Information – Exam Information Packet
- NBHWC Code of Ethics
- NBHWC Health & Wellness Coach Scope of Practice
Download/read HIPAA resources
- HIPAA Compliance – Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule
- HIPAA Compliance – Summary of the HIPAA Security Rule
- NBHWC HIPAA Position Statement
- Read The Coaching Psychology Manual (Moore, Jackson, and Tschannen-Moran) and How to Be a Health Coach (Jordan).
- Know the theories, general definitions, and bio-marker cut-offs/ranges (discussed later in this review course). Be able to identify coaching skills/techniques (empathy/sympathy, reframing, reflections, open-ended questions, etc.).
- Take every practice exam you can find! The NBHWC has one practice exam (in the link provided above). Here at KGR, we provide a 150 question practice exam in this course.
- Talk with nationally certified coaches who have taken the exam recently. Get their advice and pep talks.
- Get your sleep hygiene in order, especially the days/weeks leading up to the exam. Go to bed at the same time each night, get a full 8 hours of sleep, darken your room, turn down the temp, nothing mentally stimulating late evening, no late exercising, shower/bath right before bed, ear plugs/sound machine (irregular noise reduction), eye mask (if light is an issue), and do any other things you do for great sleep.
- Get your food/water intake in order. Eat healthy foods and hydrate well leading up to the exam date.
- Get your mental state in order. Meditate and do affirmations about the exam or creative visualizations of you being successful on this exam.
- Get your physical state in order. Hopefully, you already have a movement plan, if not walk at least 20 minutes a day leading up to the exam. If you don’t know the benefits of movement on the brain, it might be a good idea to read Spark (John J. Ratley, M.D).
- Watch these 2 videos: (Some material is outdated, like exam costs, but material is still informative. Ignore the commercial in the 2nd video. :-))
On the Day of the Exam
- Arrive early. Sometimes there's a waiting line to get in. The testing centers used are conducting testing for all sorts of other exams and if your exam date/time coincides with the GRE or other large-scale exam you may have a wait, so arrive on time according to your ticket. If you get there early, you can always spend that time meditating/affirmations/visualizations, etc.
- Read the instructions carefully and pay attention to the ‘how to take this exam’ portion of the instructions. This is a timed exam and once you start the exam the timer is ticking. Definitely utilize the NBHWC free practice exam (above link) to give you a good idea of what the exam software and navigation look like. It's important to understand the mechanics of the software used.
- Leave no questions behind. Answer every question. Skip questions, if you don’t know the answer or want to revisit them, but before the time is up answer every question, even if you have to guess.
- Start by eliminating wrong answers first, narrowing it down to the best answer. If you can’t, move on. Don’t linger too long on any question and don’t worry about skipping them for now. The computer will color code them for you so you can revisit just the questions you haven’t answered if time becomes critical.
- Look for key words such as “tell the client”, “suggest”, “mandatory”, or “never/always”. As health coaches we don’t normally tell or suggest things, nor do we use extreme words. These are likely NOT the correct choice. Other key words might indicate the correct choice, words such as “elicit”, or “engage”, "evoke", “explore”, “listen”, “affirm”, etc. Notice key words in both the question AND the answer choices.
- Pay attention to session number, it matters in some questions! Make sure you’re choosing the best answer for that session.
- Ignore age/gender, those do not matter in the selection of the correct answer.
- Do a memory dump. You will be given a few pieces of paper and pen/pencil as scratch paper. If there is something you are afraid you’ll forget (i.e. one of the bio-marker ranges) write it down on your scratch paper as soon as you enter the testing room.
When it’s done
Know that this test is tough and long, but you’ve done your part preparing and studying. It is common to leave feeling a bit overwhelmed and concerned about how you did. So, when it’s over don’t worry about feeling overwhelmed. That is totally normal. You will not get your results for a few months, so forget about it and go celebrate that you did it! You’re finished. Congratulations!