How to succeed on a FISDAP exam
Fisdap exams are uniquely designed to assess your knowledge and critical thinking ability.
Questions are constructed by instructors across the country and reviewed by subject matter
experts as well as a board certified Emergency Physician. After you finish the exam, we hope
you will come away with a good sense of what you mastered or areas for improvement. Please
take advantage of the instructions below.
Knowing the information in your textbook will build a great foundation for what the FISDAP
exams will require you to do: apply the knowledge and think critically to solve real life EMS
problems. We want to prepare you for your national or state certification exam.
We recommend completing the workbook that comes with the textbook your class is using.
Additionally, we follow current American Heart Association guidelines. We also encourage you
to utilize Fisdap’s Study Tools . It allows you to practice your test-taking skills on similar
constructed test and quizzes.
There are typically 3 types of questions Fisdap uses when we construct an exam.
Understanding the construction will help increase your success.
• You should… Questions that end in “You should” are asking you to apply knowledge
treat a patient as you would in the field. You should select the best treatment option
available from the choices given. If you are having trouble picking the best answer
because more than one option seems “right,” imagine that there is a “next,” “first, or
“most importantly” at the end of this type of question. Our examples: “You should
next,” or “You should most important,” or “You should first.”
• You should suspect… Questions that end in “You should suspect” are asking you to
suspect underlying problems or conditions that are described in the question. Think of
the condition that is the most life-threatening. You should suspect the most dangerous
condition.
• The most likely cause is… Questions that end in “The most likely cause” are asking
you to think about the most probable cause or condition based on the symptoms. In
this type of question you are NOT being asked about what might be the worst possible
problem, but rather the most likely.
, You may not be used to seeing these types of critical thinking questions on exams, so here
are some key test-taking tips to help you out:
1. Read the question completely and imagine what you should do to take care
of the patient. Please do this, before you look at the possible answers.
2. Read the possible answers completely and consider the BEST answer
(since there maybe more than one plausible choice it is best not to think
of the "correct" one.
3. Once you have read the entire question and all possible answers, pick the
one you feel is best. Many times your first guess will be the correct one.
4. During the test, if your instructor allows, we encourage you to write down (on
a blank piece of paper) words you do not know and concepts you did not
understand.
5. The questions are shuffled, so don’t get discouraged if you hit some
hard questions right away.
We wish you the best on this exam, on your certification exam, and ultimately in your new
career as an EMS professional!
Fisdap exams are uniquely designed to assess your knowledge and critical thinking ability.
Questions are constructed by instructors across the country and reviewed by subject matter
experts as well as a board certified Emergency Physician. After you finish the exam, we hope
you will come away with a good sense of what you mastered or areas for improvement. Please
take advantage of the instructions below.
Knowing the information in your textbook will build a great foundation for what the FISDAP
exams will require you to do: apply the knowledge and think critically to solve real life EMS
problems. We want to prepare you for your national or state certification exam.
We recommend completing the workbook that comes with the textbook your class is using.
Additionally, we follow current American Heart Association guidelines. We also encourage you
to utilize Fisdap’s Study Tools . It allows you to practice your test-taking skills on similar
constructed test and quizzes.
There are typically 3 types of questions Fisdap uses when we construct an exam.
Understanding the construction will help increase your success.
• You should… Questions that end in “You should” are asking you to apply knowledge
treat a patient as you would in the field. You should select the best treatment option
available from the choices given. If you are having trouble picking the best answer
because more than one option seems “right,” imagine that there is a “next,” “first, or
“most importantly” at the end of this type of question. Our examples: “You should
next,” or “You should most important,” or “You should first.”
• You should suspect… Questions that end in “You should suspect” are asking you to
suspect underlying problems or conditions that are described in the question. Think of
the condition that is the most life-threatening. You should suspect the most dangerous
condition.
• The most likely cause is… Questions that end in “The most likely cause” are asking
you to think about the most probable cause or condition based on the symptoms. In
this type of question you are NOT being asked about what might be the worst possible
problem, but rather the most likely.
, You may not be used to seeing these types of critical thinking questions on exams, so here
are some key test-taking tips to help you out:
1. Read the question completely and imagine what you should do to take care
of the patient. Please do this, before you look at the possible answers.
2. Read the possible answers completely and consider the BEST answer
(since there maybe more than one plausible choice it is best not to think
of the "correct" one.
3. Once you have read the entire question and all possible answers, pick the
one you feel is best. Many times your first guess will be the correct one.
4. During the test, if your instructor allows, we encourage you to write down (on
a blank piece of paper) words you do not know and concepts you did not
understand.
5. The questions are shuffled, so don’t get discouraged if you hit some
hard questions right away.
We wish you the best on this exam, on your certification exam, and ultimately in your new
career as an EMS professional!
