Test Anxiety Tips for NAIOMT Oral Practical Exams

Few people know that before I came to NAIOMT I actually did counseling work. My experience includes working with anxiety issues in an educational environment. I have also witnessed the specific environment of NAIOMT’s Oral Practical Exams. So here are my top tips for reducing your anxiety in these exams:

1. Don’t just study, PRACTICE. Sometimes, when we learn information quietly and in a safe environment we have a harder time presenting it verbally under pressure. I have two suggestions for this:
a. Model – if you can attend an exam and see what it’s like to be in the room, it removes a whole host of stressful unknowns.
b. Role-Play in Study Groups – if you have a study group/partner, role-play an exam. Even if no one has experienced what it’s like in the stations, you will practice recalling, integrating, analyzing and expressing information verbally and interpersonally.

2. Ask for what you need. If you need a question to be repeated or clarified, ASK! Everyone communicates differently and sometimes, in nervousness, people go blank. I highly recommend that you reflect the question back for verification, i.e. “So what you’re asking is…?” or “So you want me to show you…?” Don’t waste time wondering – spend the time showing them what you know!

3. Laugh Between Stations. There are four stations and you have a few minutes between stations for examiners to do their paperwork. Since you can’t talk about the exam, chat with your model or fellow candidates and crack a few jokes. When stress hits, blood flow increases to our limbs and decreases to the frontal cortex. This is great for running from predators but terrible for higher-level reasoning required for an exam. Laughter is a great way to relieve stress and get your blood running back to the right places!

4. For the Super Anxious: if on the scale of anxiety you trend more towards panic attack than sweaty palms I recommend a couple of things.
a. Belly Breathing. I am not a PT so I don’t know how much you know about the vagus nerve but it’s the only one they teach you about in counseling school! The short version is that if you breathe from the belly, you are telling your brain that everything is okay and it’s time to relax. If you breathe from the chest, it relays the opposite message.
b. Your Personal Totem. Find something small and meaningful that can fit in a pocket. Then at least once a day, do five minutes or more of belly breathing or guided meditation with this totem in your hand. On exam day, when you feel your anxiety getting fired up, slip your hand in your pocket and remind your body of the state that it’s supposed to be in when you have that totem in your hand.

Nothing works for everyone but the more things you try the more likely you are to figure out what works for you.

Happy Studies!
Heather – Exam Coordinator