A few weeks ago, I passed my RD exam. I had completed my dietetic internship about 2.5 weeks prior to sitting for the exam, and those days were nearly completely filled with studying.
Whether you’re about to take your exam, starting to map out your study schedule, or you’re just beginning your dietetic internship, it’s not too early to start strategizing and planning for the RD exam.
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A Few Months Out
During the last couple of months of my internship, I exclusively used the Jean Inman Review, which was provided to me by my internship program. I started with doing one thorough read-through, and from there I mainly focused on setting aside some time each day to do practice questions.
A big tip: team up with someone in your internship program who you will study well with. I worked on practice questions with my friend Irene, and we came up with mnemonics to remember certain things that were information-dense or tough to remember.
Towards the end of my internship I did another read-through of the Inman guide and took notes in an empty notebook (I almost completely filled it up) with only the things that I needed to memorize.
To be fair, I was writing down almost everything. BUT, if you’re someone who learns well by rewriting things, this could be really helpful for you. It was also helpful to just have the things that I didn’t know in one place, even if it was most of what was in Inman.
Personally, I found that it made studying feel just a little less daunting because I wasn’t re-reading information that I already had a really good handle on.
After Your Internship
I would recommend scheduling your exam as soon as you get the CDR notification that you are RD eligible. Once you have a date on the calendar, you’ll be a lot less likely to procrastinate.
After my internship ended, I scheduled my exam for about 2.5 weeks later. Once I was able to schedule my exam, I sat down and put together a pretty intense study plan/schedule that told me what I needed to do every day.
This took away the stress of feeling like I had a mountain of information to study all at once. I knew where I was going to start and end every day; this took away the need for me to make the decision about what I’d be focusing on every morning when i started studying.
Instead, I was able to just wake up and focus on whatever part of whatever domain I had scheduled for that day.
My Favorite RD Exam App: Pocket Prep
If I could recommend investing in one other study resource, it would be the Pocket Prep app. I believe that I paid $25 for one month of access to the app, but in my opinion it is worth a lot more.
I found that spending a lot of my time working on exam questions was the best way for me to study. This was especially true after I had gone through Inman a few times and couldn’t imagine sitting there and reading it any longer.
The Pocket Prep app gives you explanations of why each answer is right and why the other answers are wrong. Look at these explanations even if you got the answer right. Understand the reasoning.
Also, remember to flag questions that you get right or wrong that you think you need to come back to in order to understand the concept more fully. You won’t see the exact same questions on your exam by any means, but they will be somewhat similar and part of passing this exam is just being able to strategically eliminate certain answers to choose the best one.
You won’t know the answer to every question, so this is a skill you can develop by doing the 800 practice questions provided by the Pocket Prep app.
Podcasts I Loved
Podcasts with RD exam practice questions are a great way to break up the monotony of studying. I listened to a couple episodes per day of the Chomping Down the Dietetic Exam podcast when my exam was about a week away.
Dietetics with Dana is another incredible RD exam prep podcast. You can also join her facebook group, Registered Dietitian Exam Study Group, where Dana and group members are always posting questions for everyone to answer.
Similarly, listen to the audio recording of the Inman Review guide when you go for walks, do laundry, or while doing any other chores. This was particularly helpful to me especially as I started to feel like I couldn’t do any more reading closer to the exam.
The Day of Your RD Exam
On the day of your exam and in the few days leading up to exam day, spend some time on affirmations, meditations, and movement that makes you feel good.
Build your confidence however works for you – maybe this means power posing in the mirror, or maybe it means going for a run and listening to your favorite workout playlist. Picture yourself walking into the exam room and passing. See it and feel it.
On the day of your exam, have everything laid out for yourself and know what you will need to bring with you. I needed my ID, snacks, water for before and afterwards, comfortable clothing, and layers in case my exam room was cold (and it was).
Know exactly how to get to your exam site. Don’t study on the day of your test; do some affirmations and remind yourself that you’ve prepared for this for years. The studying that you did for this exam is just an added bonus on top of your past experiences and education. Go in with confidence and tell yourself that you’re already a registered dietitian, you are just getting credentialed today.
My top tip: take your time. I rushed through my exam in about 45 minutes. Luckily I passed, but there was really no need for me to do that. You will have enough time. Pace yourself and look at the clock only occasionally to ensure that you are making good time.
Know that if you fail, you are not alone and many amazing dietitians had to take their exam multiple times before passing.
Need more encouragement? I recorded a podcast episode not long after passing the RD exam – listen to How I Passed the RD Exam!
