12:20 PM
Kinsz
A couple of months ago I earned my Epic ASAP Emergency Department certification. This was my first Epic training and first Epic certification of what I am hoping to be the first of many. My education was not part of a nurse certification or for one of the coveted Epic jobs. Though I would love to be an emergency room nurse I think of myself as a computer geek and proud of it. My Epic training and Epic certifications are steps in my target of becoming one of the leading experts on health care information systems. These classes are as important to my job as BLS classes are to a nurse certification.
Now, with each certification program thru Epic you have to complete the correct courses at the Epic System's facility in Madison, Wisconsin. In these courses you are given Training Companions (work booklets), access to the Epic Users Web and the iSWTD education environment. For the ASAP portion you have to complete and pass one software build and two tests. The grading system may be different for others but my grades needed to be over 80% for each portion with an overall score of over 85% to pass.
Side Note: I won't go too into the class room experience in this post. I'll leave that for another day. However I'll cover my experiences with the ASAP Certification process and the techniques I used to study for and pass my tests.
I am going to have to say the tests were brilliantly put together. Each question was engineered to test your knowledge and there are no straightforward answers. For anyone who may be looking to certify in one of the health care information systems from Epic I would like to share my personal study techniques.
In the iSWTD environment you'll be given two sections to work in; Practice and Project. In both, you'll be given a base product in which to work. Inside each of those you will be allowed access to the Text (developer) and Hyperspace (the end user) environment.
The examinations are open source. This implies you will be allowed to use everything in the iSWTD environments as well as your Training Companions and your notes. Nonetheless even given access to these resources the exams are still terribly challenging. You have 2 hours per tests and you'll need every minute.
In preparation for the exams I have the following recommendations;
1) Work through the exercises in the Training Companion using the Practice environment of your iSWTD first. This will allow you to work on the areas you are weakest in, get use to making changes, and reviewing the outcome of those changes without influencing anything permanent.
2) I highly suggest completing the build portion in the Project environment of your iSWTD before fully studying for the examinations. For new users or perhaps for someone that has worked with Epic applications before this is going to help you gain a bigger appreciation of the software and imprint a visual map of the system in your mind. It will also allow you the chance to get use to the terminology used in Epic training.
3) Makes sure you are completely familiar with the nomenclature used by Epic Systems. In my career I have worked with many clinical applications as well as many operating systems. It isn't hard to confuse terms from one system to another. Just be absolutely sure to know these terms and their functions/meanings.
4) Take each examination 1 week apart. This could give you ample time to study for each part. I've been told of trainees taking the tests inside days of one another but the feedback from these individuals wasn't positive.
5) When taking each exam download the PDF version of your Companion and leave it open on your computer. When you run across a question you want to verify before answering, search (Ctrl+f) for the key words. This seriously cuts back on the time used hunting for the information you desire.
6) Read each question thoroughly. This is an exceedingly important tip. As I described in my opening the questions are designed quite skillfully and can easily trip you up if you aren't totally focused on what they are asking. The great majority of people skim through while reading, as you are probably doing now. Look at every question, the way it is worded, the language they use, and how they employ them. Each question was definitely designed to test your knowledge of the material. So read cautiously and take the time to think each question thoroughly.
7) Last but certainly not least,. Take all of the time given to you. If you finish early go back and look up those questions you didn't feel 100% happy with. I did this and found at least 5 questions to where I needed to change my response because the first go-round I overlooked one miniscule operative word that absolutely changed my way of thinking and my answer.
Now, with each certification program thru Epic you have to complete the correct courses at the Epic System's facility in Madison, Wisconsin. In these courses you are given Training Companions (work booklets), access to the Epic Users Web and the iSWTD education environment. For the ASAP portion you have to complete and pass one software build and two tests. The grading system may be different for others but my grades needed to be over 80% for each portion with an overall score of over 85% to pass.
Side Note: I won't go too into the class room experience in this post. I'll leave that for another day. However I'll cover my experiences with the ASAP Certification process and the techniques I used to study for and pass my tests.
I am going to have to say the tests were brilliantly put together. Each question was engineered to test your knowledge and there are no straightforward answers. For anyone who may be looking to certify in one of the health care information systems from Epic I would like to share my personal study techniques.
In the iSWTD environment you'll be given two sections to work in; Practice and Project. In both, you'll be given a base product in which to work. Inside each of those you will be allowed access to the Text (developer) and Hyperspace (the end user) environment.
The examinations are open source. This implies you will be allowed to use everything in the iSWTD environments as well as your Training Companions and your notes. Nonetheless even given access to these resources the exams are still terribly challenging. You have 2 hours per tests and you'll need every minute.
In preparation for the exams I have the following recommendations;
1) Work through the exercises in the Training Companion using the Practice environment of your iSWTD first. This will allow you to work on the areas you are weakest in, get use to making changes, and reviewing the outcome of those changes without influencing anything permanent.
2) I highly suggest completing the build portion in the Project environment of your iSWTD before fully studying for the examinations. For new users or perhaps for someone that has worked with Epic applications before this is going to help you gain a bigger appreciation of the software and imprint a visual map of the system in your mind. It will also allow you the chance to get use to the terminology used in Epic training.
3) Makes sure you are completely familiar with the nomenclature used by Epic Systems. In my career I have worked with many clinical applications as well as many operating systems. It isn't hard to confuse terms from one system to another. Just be absolutely sure to know these terms and their functions/meanings.
4) Take each examination 1 week apart. This could give you ample time to study for each part. I've been told of trainees taking the tests inside days of one another but the feedback from these individuals wasn't positive.
5) When taking each exam download the PDF version of your Companion and leave it open on your computer. When you run across a question you want to verify before answering, search (Ctrl+f) for the key words. This seriously cuts back on the time used hunting for the information you desire.
6) Read each question thoroughly. This is an exceedingly important tip. As I described in my opening the questions are designed quite skillfully and can easily trip you up if you aren't totally focused on what they are asking. The great majority of people skim through while reading, as you are probably doing now. Look at every question, the way it is worded, the language they use, and how they employ them. Each question was definitely designed to test your knowledge of the material. So read cautiously and take the time to think each question thoroughly.
7) Last but certainly not least,. Take all of the time given to you. If you finish early go back and look up those questions you didn't feel 100% happy with. I did this and found at least 5 questions to where I needed to change my response because the first go-round I overlooked one miniscule operative word that absolutely changed my way of thinking and my answer.
About the Author:
Created by Jason Sanderson, Industry Director - Healthcare and Hospital for UsersUnite. Jason writes a blog that debates the 1 and stories related to hospital and healthcare software of all types. If you should happen to have a subject that you want to see Jason write about please send her an email with the details at salesusersunite.com.
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