I passed the written portion of the COT Exam!!!! Woooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
It’s been a week and the JCAHPO Handbook states that I should just be patient and wait for “official” results. I sure am glad that Pearson VUE gave me a printout of the results!
Now, onto the practicals-
Then, the COMT.
That’s right. I have 3 years before becoming eligible to take the next test. Until then, I’ll be using the scored percentages to first review my lowest scoring categories.
I did learn something: Study the parts you think you already know well.
Future academic posts will have the following notations of relevance:
COA, COT, COMT, BSc (for basic science).
Ophthalmic Medical Personnel 
Congrats! did you get over 80% in each category? I was told to reach for 80%. not sure if this is true, but I am worried. Also, how long did you study before taking the COT?
Hello and thank you! I tested fairly well in most categories with a hand full scoring 100%. However, my lowest two were a 60% and a 67%, which was pretty surprising. My best advice would be to thoroughly study EVERY TOPIC, even the ones you think you know inside and out. I focused on my weaknesses, then interests, which happened to work out. But it could have just as easily cost me the pass.
Shoot for perfect scores! Nobody is perfect. I believe the test is pass/fail because academia isn’t as important as real-life scenarios, which makes it hard to evaluate techs fairly by exam percentages.
I truly began studying 3 years ago when I started taking nursing classes. I tried to apply everything I learned to its relevance in ophthalmology. Going that route set a solid foundation in anatomy and physiology- mainly the nervous system, which is important to grasp for pharmacology and identifying lesions in the visual pathway. I already knew the hard stuff before sitting down with flash cards.
Send in the application to JCAHPO when you feel you are ready and you will be fine.
Jessica – have you started to study for the COMT? Is it something you’re planning to do when eligible, or will you wait? D love any input, and any thoughts on study material!
Cris
cris.garza@me.com
Hi Cris, Sorry I haven’t logged in in a while and email notifications are off for some reason. Yes, I plan on taking the COMT as soon as I can. For now, I am taking college courses so I haven’t been able to study. Another tech I met with more experience than me advised to take anatomy and physiology courses and microbiology. Here’s a collection of YouTube videos I started putting together when studying for the COA. https://www.youtube.com/user/OphTechArtist All the info is relevant, even when a tech is experienced. Good Luck!