My study dungeon!
I was determined to take the RD exam ONE time in my life and then move on with my career. When I googled “RD Exam Study Tips” I got horror stories on forums where certain people had taken the exam multiple times and couldn’t pass. It was a little unsettling, yet motivating- this is a test you have to take seriously.
Disclaimer: this is just what worked for me! I offer no guarantees! 🙂
I used Jean Inman’s review – not the seminar, just the CDs and written course – as well as RD-in-a-Flash Flashcards. I studied passively for a few weeks (just every now and then, scanning over things) then set up a schedule to get through the Inman CDs and the corresponding notes, domain by domain. The Inman materials were definitely most helpful in reviewing everything that could be on the test. Having the audio helped keep me focused, although I had to pause and take notes quite frequently. Plus, there are a TON of practice questions for each domain to go through. I made up my own outlines, charts, etc, then brought the flashcards with me when I wanted to study on the go.
If you are prepping to take the RD exam I highly suggest you sign up for weekly video tutorials, daily practice questions, and weekly questions. You can even sign up for the daily and weekly questions way ahead of time and just save them in your email box and look at them when you’re ready to study. (The videos do expire after the week they are released).
Another good resource is a study guide from the American Dietetic Association (ADA). It costs $35 but is less money than other sources. It also has a CD-Rom test that mimics the actual format of the exam.
RDStudy.com seems like a helpful resource as well. I didn’t end up using it, as I already had the Inman review and this service costs additional money, but their free video tutorials were so helpful I can imagine the rest of their tools are too. It appears that they have practice exams, in-depth tutorials, and even an RD on staff to answer questions.
The following are more resources I found helpful:
- Here is a webpage that has a lot of good information about the test itself as well as resources to prepare for it: http://fshn.illinois.edu/dietetics/handbook/rdexaminfo.
- This is the CDR webpage where you can find answers to a lot of questions: http://www.cdrnet.org/
- For those of you taking it in 2012 and beyond, there’s a new test information: http://www.cdrnet.org/testspecs.cfm.
- The All Access Internships blog has feedback from several now-RDs about what study materials worked for them: http://allaccessinternships.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-rd-exam-prep-materials-worked-for.html. (Sidenote: They also graciously feature me on their “Blogs We Like” list!)
- Here are some free practice questions. The website is full of ads, but I still found the sample questions helpful: http://www.testprepreview.com/modules/dietetics.htm
Mission: Dietitian 