Some Tips for Studying for the ABHP Part II Exam

Deepesh Poudel, PhD, Los Alamos National Laboratory

The American Board of Health Physics (ABHP) grants professional certification in the field of health
physics. The certification exams are given in two parts (http://www.hps1.org/aahp/boardweb/pgsec3.html)
– the first part evaluates the candidate’s knowledge of health physics fundamentals, whereas the second
part of the ABHP certification exam tests the candidate’s professional judgment, ability to analyze and
organize complex problems, and practical skills at a professional level.
This year, many of our readers – some for their first time – will be sitting for the ABHP Part II exam. Over
the past several years, anywhere from 16% to 73% of the candidates who have appeared in part II
examination have been successful (Fig. 1). To help this year’s candidates (including myself), I talked with
Thomas Johnson, CHP, PhD, (http://csu-cvmbs.colostate.edu/academics/erhs/Pages/thomas-johnson.aspx)
of Colorado State University (CSU) about how to prepare for the examination. Johnson, who insisted that
I put a disclaimer saying the suggestions are simply his opinions and best guesses, has over 25 years of
experience in the nuclear industry and has conducted several certified health physicist (CHP) review classes
over the past 15 years.
In addition, I also talked to John Klumpp of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Amber Harshman of CSU,
and Nathan Krzyaniak of U.S. Air Force – all of whom recently completed the second part of the
examination—for some advice on how to study for the Part II exam.
Before starting to study for the exam, it is important that candidates familiarize themselves with the content
of the exam. The first section of the exam ((https://www.hps1.org/aahp/boardweb/pgsec3.html) contains
six questions – each worth 50 points — on core topics of health physics such as personnel dosimetry,
shielding and activation, measurements and instrumentation, and biological effects of radiation. If you do
not have a firm grasp of these basic topics, Johnson recommends that you study chapters 3-14 of
Introduction to Health Physics (https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Health-Physics-Fifth-Allied-
ebook/dp/B071DQMYTN/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495816421&sr=8-
3&keywords=introduction+to+health+physics). Krzyaniak agrees that the book was a great refresher for
his knowledge on health physics fundamentals, and he also recommends Radiobiology for the
Radiobiologist (https://www.amazon.com/Radiobiology-Radiologist-Eric-J-
Hall/dp/1608311937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511799550&sr=8-
1&keywords=radiobiology+for+the+radiologist) for candidates whose knowledge on radiobiology
fundamentals may be a little rusty.
The second section of the exam contains eight problems – of which the candidate must select four – in
topical areas such as accelerators, environmental, fuel cycle, medical, research and power reactors,
university, general and nonionizing radiation, and each of these questions is worth 100 points. Krzyaniak’s
strategy was to put about a quarter of his studying effort into three of these topics he felt most comfortable
with, and rest of the time and effort into the topics he was less comfortable with. There were a few topics,
such as nonionizing radiation, that he did not study at all. He said that not looking to master everything
saved him a lot of time that he could spend on topics he thought he still had time to get better at. Johnson,
on the other hand, suggests that although these questions are designed such that a candidate who is
experienced and capable in that area should be able to answer, the problems are not exceptionally difficult,
and if you have reviewed the area even a little, you should be able to do well on that question.
Johnson suggests that reviewing and “taking” the old exams
(https://www.hps1.org/aahp/boardweb/pgsec9.html) is the best way to study for the test once a candidate
has a firm grasp of the health physics fundamentals. He recommends reviewing the 1994-2002 exams,
understand the questions, and try to complete as many as possible. If you can, time yourself and take the
exam over a 6 hour period. Klumpp, whose application to take the Part II exam was approved only a month
prior to the exam date, agrees that this is the most efficient way to study for the test. After working through
a question, he looked over the correct solution (solutions to some of the past ABHP questions are available
online) and made sure he understood it before moving on to the next question. Harshman also worked on
each of the problems from the past examination and made notes of the areas she felt she needed more review
or equations she needed to remember. Klumpp ‘graded’ the answers on his head, which showed that it is
not too difficult to get a passing score by correctly setting up the calculation portion of a question and
showing your work on a solution.
Krzyaniak also looked at the past questions and performed a sort of trend analysis, categorizing questions
into a “general” topic. This gave him an idea of how frequently certain types of questions appear on the test
and how much time and effort he needed to allocate for different types of questions. Johnson also suggests
that there are certain “types” of questions that tend to be asked very often. Here’s what he calls a “biased”
list of the general type of problems to expect: 1) questions on iodine (internal and external dosimetry,
biological and environmental properties, measurement and detection, etc.), 2) ion chamber corrections, 3)
internal dosimetry, 4) activation and decay, 5) line source problem, 6) shielding (that may include a buildup
factor), 7) Gaussian plume, and 8) “hot topics” that include new recommendations or controversial topics
such as the current lens dose limit recommendations made by NCRP vs. ICRP.
Johnson recommends taking a good look at the equation sheet and using it as a knowledge guide. You
should know all the equations on the sheet so well that you do not need to look at it. Johnson suggests that
if you find yourself using the equation sheet during practice exams for anything but confirming something,
you need to study more. The equation sheet also tells you some of the calculations you might see on the
exam. Many of the equations are seldom used on the exam, although similar equations may be needed.
Harshman credited taking the CHP preparation course offered by Johnson as one of the few things that
helped her successfully pass the exam. The course consists of an extensive review of different topics that
appear on the exam, in addition to working through several problems that appeared in past examinations.
Klumpp also mentioned that the course was a great refresher. Johnson suggests that while a review class
can certainly be helpful, all you need to pass the examination are determination, willpower, and lots of
study time!
If you are (also) taking part I of the examination, please note that the June 2016 issue of the Student Corner
(https://hps.org/membersonly/publications/newsletter/hpnewsvol45no06.pdf#page=16) presented tips for
candidates taking the part I exam.
Now that you are armed with some great tips to prepare for the test, start studying! Start early; you will
need about 300 hours of study, as recommended by the ABHP.
Don’t forget to look at the future issue of this column of the newsletter for some great test-taking tips from
Johnson and a few successful candidates!
Caption for Figure:
Percentage of candidates who successfully completed the Part II examination (data from ABHP website,
https://www.hps1.org/aahp/boardweb/examdata.html)