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Passing a healthcare certification exam is often the final, daunting hurdle between you and your new career. Textbooks and study guides are essential, but there is no substitute for the lived experience of professionals who have actually sat in the testing center and earned their credentials.

We spoke with five credentialed professionals — spanning medical coding, nursing, respiratory therapy, and advanced practice — to find out what strategies worked and what mistakes they wish they had avoided.

The AAPC Certified Professional Coder (CPC)

• Professional Profile: Marcus T., CPC

• Credentials: Certified Professional Coder (AAPC)

• Years Certified: 4 years

• Current Role: Outpatient Surgery Coder at a large health system

• Specialty: General surgery and orthopedic procedure coding

What was your biggest hurdle with the CPC exam?

"Time management, without a doubt. You have 4 hours to answer 100 questions, which sounds generous until you realize you are reading complex operative reports for many of them. I failed my first attempt because I spent too long on the surgical cases early in the test and had to rush through the last 20 questions. That 2.4 minutes per question disappears fast when you are flipping through a thousand-page CPT manual."