NRCME Study Guide

NRCME Study Guide: Tips and Tricks

In the next two years, 40,000 medical examiners will need to be certified through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. As a result, more and more examiners will be looking to take the test and begin providing physical examinations for drivers who need to be labeled “fit” for driving on the roads of the country.

There are several things you can do to prepare for the exam, various tips and tricks as they say. Here are a few to keep in mind.

Get The Handbook

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration currently provides a handbook for National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners who need to be certified. This handbook is available free of charge at their website https://nrcme.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/FMCSAMedicalExaminerHandbook-2014MAR18.pdf and includes everything that you need to study for the exam including:

  1. General FMCSA Information.
  2. The Job of Commercial Driving.
  3. The Medical Examination Guidelines.
  4. The Physical Qualification Standards.
  5. Medical Examination Report Forms.
  6. Drug Abuse and Alcoholism.
  7. Psychological Disorders.
  8. Other Health Problems of Drivers.

The FMCSA currently has the following message displayed when searching for the Medical Examiner Handbook: “Please Note: This document is in the process of being updated. A revised version will be published shortly.”

Download the last copy that was made available here: NRCME Handbook 2014

The handbook provides information and guidance to the medical examiner who performs the examination of commercial drivers. Determining the fitness of drivers for duty, medically speaking, is a very important element of the FMCSA safety program. Specialists include everyone from endocrinologists to cardiologists, all of whom can perform the medical evaluation. A medical examiner decides who is fit to drive.

Over all, the handbook numbers 250 pages, covering everything the medical examiner needs to know.

Speak With Medical Examiners

A good place to go to know what is going to be on the exam, are medical examiners who have followed it. This doesn’t mean you are going to them to get answers to tests, but to find out what you need to know, and how you should prepare. These are people who have already learned what needs to be known for the test, and they can help you prepare.

NRCME Practice Tests

Easily the best thing you can do apart from actually studying, is to use practice tests. The practice test is an important part of any preparation for testing. It has been proven that the best way for someone to learn, is to learn over the course of time, rather than as quickly as possible. The best way to do this is to study, then test your knowledge. Then study more, and test again what you know.

There are many advantages to practice tests including:

  1. By testing what you know, you can see where your weaknesses are. As a result, you can strengthen your weaknesses, without wasting any more time on something that you are already very strong with.
  2. You can reinforce what you know, continually, by testing yourself. This is an excellent way to retain what you have learned.
  3. It will make you feel calmer when you are going into the real test. This is because you will know exactly what is going to be on the test, and you won’t have to worry about going into the testing blind.
  4. You will have a general idea of how the test is structured, so you can plan accordingly. You can understand where you should start with the test, to get your strengths out of the way, before tackling areas that you feel you may be weak on.

Use a Training Organization

There are hundreds of training organizations currently registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. These training organizations will help you learn what you need to know in order to take the test. All of these training organizations exist for the purpose of providing you with proper training, and all are accredited through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The training organizations will vary where they are located, and who they teach. Some will provide classroom teaching and online teaching, while others will only provide online teaching or classroom teaching. In addition, some will be self-guided, which allows you to move at your own pace when you are trying to learn the materials.

No matter what you decide to do in order to learn what is needed for the certification test, it is best that you do prepare adequately so you can go into the test confident that you will pass. There is going to be an increased need for medical examiners in the transportation industry, and you can be at the forefront, providing physical examinations that help ensure the nation’s roads are safe for commercial drivers and regular citizens.