5 Study Tips For Pediatricians Taking The MOCA-Peds Exam

Pediatrics is a medical field all about caring for the health of infants, children, and adolescents. As such, it should come as no surprise that there are several exams and assessments that pediatricians need to perform to determine the best course of action in any given situation. One such assessment is called MOCA-Peds. When taking an essential evaluation like the MOCA-Peds, you will likely have questions about how to prepare. But since each pediatrician has their preferences and styles, it can take effort to tell what you should do to succeed on exam day.

5 Study Tips When Taking The MOCA-Peds Assessment

Fortunately, a few general tips work for most pediatricians. If you’re planning on taking the MOCA-Peds assessment soon, you may want to consider doing some of the following:

1. Build Your Vocabulary

The pediatric board exam is notorious for containing complex vocabulary. Some pediatricians will even say you’ll have trouble simply understanding the questions if you need a large enough medical vocabulary. Since that’s the case, you should build up your medical vocabulary before taking the MOCA-Peds. Not only will this help you understand the questions better, but it’ll also help improve your general reading comprehension so that it’ll be easier to understand future textbooks and journal articles. The primary way to go about doing this is by reading journals and books. There are several places to find medical journals and textbooks, too. You could go through the library to see if there are any peer-reviewed books you can borrow or read through scholarly articles.

2. Be Familiar With Key Terminology

Before taking the MOCA-Peds assessment, you should be familiar with standard terms to describe specific diagnoses and treatments. For example, if you’re talking about the diagnosis of transverse myelitis, you must understand what “myelitis” means and know that this means spinal cord inflammation. Likewise, if you’re talking about managing a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or diabetes mellitus type I, it’s vital that you know that these individuals have insulin insensitivity. Pediatric Board Review Course has a glossary of over 450 medical terms that you should definitely be familiar with. Even if you think you’re familiar with these terms, it doesn’t hurt to go through them in your free time so that you know exactly what they mean.

3. Get to Know the Pediatrics-Specific Questions

General questions relevant to the pediatrician will probably not be on your MOCA-Peds assessment. This is perhaps because they’re testing general knowledge, not your medical knowledge. So if you’re an internist or family practice doctor and you see these questions, don’t worry. They’re not going to be on your MOCA-Peds assessment, either. Getting to know some of the more pediatrician-specific questions is a great way to prepare for your MOCA-Peds assessment, and it’s also an excellent way to refresh your memory on some of the topics you’ll deal with in this specialty. The best way to do this is through a pediatrics board review course, which will give you the option to test and review what is on the MOCA-Peds exam in order to get certified. 

4. Study the MOCA-Peds Content Outline

Before taking the MOCA-Peds assessment, you should familiarize yourself with the exam’s content outline. This is because it’ll show you what topics will likely be covered on exam day. Some pediatricians will also say that this is an excellent way to figure out what topics you need to focus on before taking the MOCA-Peds assessment. Fully grasping the concepts and terms surrounding the content outline is a great way to prepare for your MOCA-Peds assessment. This is because, when you’re tested on something like wellness promotion, it’ll be easier to recognize what’s being said about this subject if you’ve already gone over the outline.

5. Practice Your Questions

Another great way to prepare for your MOCA Peds assessment is by practicing your questions with someone else. Considering that the pediatrician will not be able to practice with you, one of your friends or family members can play this role. Practice questions important enough to show off to your instructor can also be great for preparing for your MOCA Peds assessment. After all, if it turns out that someone else knows the content outline better than you do, there’s no shame in asking them about specific topics on the MOCA Peds assessment. This can only help you save time during the actual test day itself.

The MOCA Peds is an excellent assessment for junior-level pediatricians to take. It’s an important exam that helps ensure you’re on the right track in your pediatric career. If you take it soon, it can be beneficial to spend some time building your medical vocabulary and familiarizing yourself with the keywords that will show up on the questions. If you’re planning on taking this assessment, these are great tips for preparing for it.