First of all, congratulations! You are almost ready to take one of the most rewarding and challenging multiple-choice tests. The Nuclear Cardiology specialty exam for a technologist is administered by the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board (NMTCB). First of all, you should visit the Web site: http://​www.​nmtcb.​org/​specialty/​cardiology.​php and familiarize yourself with the test information provided; you will find the information on this site very useful. The NCT exam is now available “on demand.” When you are approved, you can choose the date and location for your test..

Multiple choice is the most common test format for standardized tests and is efficient and effective way to measure a wide range of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities. These questions are easier on your recall because they only require you to recognize the correct answer. However, well-designed multiple-choice questions can be difficult; dealing with shades of meaning, conflicting information, appropriate conclusions can make these questions very challenging. Remember that multiple-choice questions require you to choose the best answer, not the correct one.

A multiple-choice test is composed of three elements: stem, options, and distractors. The stem is the basic problem. The stem may be either a question or an incomplete statement. Options are the list of responses available. The list contains one correct answer. The remaining responses act as the distractors. The distractors are designed to appear as plausible answers.

You need to know and read all the directions carefully, know if each question has one or more correct options, know if you are going to be penalized for guessing, and know how much time is being allowed to complete the test.