CHP exam

[ku4ns]

Where do I find someone who has taken the CHP exam? Is there a forum for it?
John

[wlrun3@aol.com]

Where do I find someone who has taken the CHP exam? Is there a forum for it?
John

   ...if you are accepted and intend to take both parts on the same day you are an academic stud...

   ...you don't need anybody else...





   

[ku4ns]

Only part I, just trying to see if the cd offered on the site is similar to the exam.
John

[wlrun3@aol.com]

Only part I, just trying to see if the cd offered on the site is similar to the exam.
John

   ...some have previously objected to this but since you seem to be sincere, and having found part 1 intellectually extraordinarily stimulating ( i passed ), the best workout is datachem software...

   ...bevelacqua's book "basic health physics" is necessary, since he wrote the test...

   ...a five minute mile is not accomplished haphazardly or by meekly following those that have not been there...

[grantime]

   ...if you are accepted and intend to take both parts on the same day you are an academic stud...

   ...you don't need anybody else..

We'll see --I'm taking both parts in July.  I'm using Cember, Bevaelacqua,  and Rad-Ware test bank.  I also went to prep class at http://www.radiationsafetyacademy.com/chp.html . 

Good luck with your studies

[wlrun3@aol.com]

We'll see --I'm taking both parts in July.  I'm using Cember, Bevaelacqua,  and Rad-Ware test bank.  I also went to prep class at http://www.radiationsafetyacademy.com/chp.html . 

Good luck with your studies

   ...what percent of candidates attempting both parts on the same day succeed on their first attempt...

[ku4ns]

Thanks for the responses. I've been using the software offered on the website and then the Health Physics book and there are some similarities, but quite a difference in calculations. I didn't know who had wirtten the exam but after gaining that knowledge I will emphasize more on the text.

I'll check out the datachem software also.
john

[wlrun3@aol.com]

Thanks for the responses. I've been using the software offered on the website and then the Health Physics book and there are some similarities, but quite a difference in calculations. I didn't know who had wirtten the exam but after gaining that knowledge I will emphasize more on the text.

I'll check out the datachem software also.
john

   ...the part 1 example questions are the key...

[grantime]

   ...what percent of candidates attempting both parts on the same day succeed on their first attempt...

I doubt very many.  But then the pass rate for either part is pretty low.  My reasoning is that if I study enough to pass Part 1 then I have a chance at Part 2 (or vice versa) .  If not then I at least have the experience in taking both of them. 

[ku4ns]

I recently sent in my material to sit for the exam and was expecting to sit next year, but they approved me for next month. I'm excited about the opportunity, but didn't have the chance for a review course. I work in a hospital setting and have been in the field for a long time, but the reactor information is different. I do calculations for removal of xenon gas but thats about it. Now, I see quite a few different situations with environmental problems and different isotopes, but I don't recall that so much in graduate school. Oh, for the pass rate I think its about 50% for part 1 and 30% for part 2.
john

[grantime]

Good luck.  The interesting part about this test is that hardly anyone has skillsets that covers all area.   

[wlrun3@aol.com]

  
 ...the datachem software has roughly 800 questions...at the end of my preparation i was able to answer each correctly, one pass through, in a little over an hour...part 1 is time intensive...

[wlrun3@aol.com]

I doubt very many.  But then the pass rate for either part is pretty low.  My reasoning is that if I study enough to pass Part 1 then I have a chance at Part 2 (or vice versa) .  If not then I at least have the experience in taking both of them. 

   ...the strongest chp's i have met, on average, took part 2 three times...it is the only certification that still requires essay format...truly an exceptional challenge well worth the years, no, decades, that many have invested...



 

[wlrun3@aol.com]

Good luck.  The interesting part about this test is that hardly anyone has skillsets that covers all area.   

   ..."How safe is safe. This question lies in the field that Dr. Alvin Weinberg called transscience. Transscience questions have a scientific basis, but they cannot be answered by science alone. Safety is a subjective concept that can be interpreted only within the context of its application."   

Introduction to Health Physics, Herman Cember, 1983, Preface

[ku4ns]

I work on the hospital side of things so the reactor information is new to me, different isotopes than what I use. Is there a Yahoo group for board prep? For the ABR exam there is a group and has about 1000 members and most have taken a part. So, the experience and regurgitation of question types is very good.
john

[Khak-Hater]

I've given the exam in Oak Ridge [consistently serving as the second largest exam site] for the last several years. We generally get 20 to 25 candidates for Part I, and 12 to 18 for Part II, with 6-8 taking both parts.

I'm in favor of taking both parts your first year.  Even if you fail, it's good practice for next year.  I check the results each year and it seems that one or two people [nation wide] seem to pass both parts each year.  I think that it's mainly luck.  Some individual tests are well suited to some individuals.  The main problem with taking both during the same day is due to mental endurance.  After three hours in the morning, your mind slows down just enough that it's hard to grind through the six hour exam in the afternoon.  A few years ago, they changed Part II from five to six hours.  This seemed to help a lot more people finish, with time to check their answers, but now they seem to have made the exams more time consuming [kind of a Catch 22], so now you just have an hour more material to deal with.

I took the NRRPT the year before I took Part I, and found them to be very similar, having done no extra preparation for Part I.  Therefore, any NRRPT study materials (e.g., books, software, practice test questions) would also be useful for taking Part I. 

For Part II, I was a big fan of Jim Turner's books "Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection" and "Problems and Solutions in Radiation Protection."  I found that while Bevelacqua's book was more comprehensive, it was also more confusing.  Stick with knowing the meat and potatoes thoroughly, and you'll get through just fine.  Also, the Gnoll [Knoll?] book on instrumentation is outstanding. 

MGM

[ku4ns]

Thanks. I have all of those texts and one of the test sites I have chosen is Oak Ridge, the other is Aiken, SC., but I haven't heard anything yet. The mail inside the hospital is slowly dispersed.
john

[grantime]

I'm still waiting to hear my test location as well

[ku4ns]

I got the notification today and I will be in Aiken, SC.
john