I failed the exam. What areas do I need to focus on for the next exam?

The NCCAOM recommends that you use the scaled scores in the Examination Content Area Diagnostic Report in your official results letter to provide guidance regarding the area(s) in which remediation is needed, starting in the area with the lowest scaled score. However, keep in mind that each content area consists of a small number of questions, making this information less reliable than the total scaled score that measures overall exam performance. In other words, the small number of questions in each content area limits the degree to which you can generalize performance to a strength or weakness in a content area. Regardless of your content area scaled scores, the NCCAOM suggests that you study the entire Expanded Content Outline in preparation for your next exam, which are free to download from the  Examination Preparation section of the NCCAOM website. The NCCAOM Testing staff are not subject matter experts and cannot provide any guidance on how to study for the exam.

The NCCAOM strongly encourages any candidate who fails to seek guidance on how to prepare for the exam. Speak with your school program director, a faculty member, or a mentor, or research reputable test preparation services or publications that can assist you. The NCCAOM® Candidate Preparation Guides, which contain the Expanded Content Outlines and a bibliography of study references, are valuable resources and can be downloaded for free from the NCCAOM website under the  Examination Preparation section.