You want to be a Certified Hand Therapist, but you feel like studying for the test is intimidating and overwhelmingly hard.
Let’s discuss the three signs you are ready to get help to prepare for the CHT exam.
If you have the years, hours, and DESIRE to become a Certified Hand Therapist, this blog is for you!
I say desire because you have to want this specialty. It’s got to be important in your professional and personal goals.
There’s a reason WHY there are only a small number of CHTs and even a smaller number of CHTs in business themselves.
Preparing for the test takes time, effort, and money. The money is the easiest part because you can always make more money. Just work, not spend it all, and you’ll have the money.
Just pass, get your credentials and ask for more money over the lifetime of your career.
Be the person WILLING to put in the hard work NOW – so that you can enjoy it later.
Some people have the skills, have been working in hand therapy for a while, have great jobs, and just want the credentials. That’s great.
Say what you want to say, but you want more choices, too – EVEN if it’s the choice to keep that job, add more value to that job, and give yourself security in that job.
For most of us out there – me included when I was studying for it. I wanted to be a Certified Hand Therapist more than just to have it. I wanted choices to work in certain settings, work with particular types of cases like post-surgery cases, and get great results. I also wanted to start my own business one day and I knew it was an important credential that would benefit me in the long run.
Are you someone who wants more choices in your career to have your pick of setting, jobs, and cases?
Are you someone who wants to be the best of the best when it comes to hand therapy?
I say GO FOR IT.
No one is going to give you permission. No one is going to make you do it.
You have to want it for yourself.
You have to want to become an expert. Be seen as an expert. But, besides the letters – studying does allow you to learn so much more about what you are doing in terms of the treatment that you are providing. Allows you to be a better therapist.
Go for it today.
Here are the 3 signs you are ready to get help to prepare for the CHT exam.
- You have the books but keep putting off your studying.
- You have failed in the past, and it’s made a dent in your confidence.
- You just want the help so you can go at warp speed.
You have the books. You’ve tried studying on your own for at least 3 months.
Reading the Rehab of the Hand is no fun. The first few chapters are really dense, and you can’t get through them.
You’ve tried reading them only to put them away and “try” later but later turns into days, weeks, and months. Then, if you actually finish the chapter, you look back and have no idea what you have learned.
You start thinking about how much time this is going to take because of the current pace you are at.
For some people, it’s turned into years. So many years that the books have a new edition. This actually has happened to some of the members who have joined my program.
Does any of this sound like you?
If you have the books and put them off for months or years, this is a GREEN indicator for you to join a program like our Hand Exam Prep program.
Even if you have done other programs, you still qualify to sign up for mine.
One student has done review courses, do-it-yourself programs, and even finished one of those 5 figure university programs and still felt like something was missing.
The way I teach is NOT through PowerPoint. It’s not by giving my notes. You learn when you do the writing. You learn when you understand concepts. You are then able to APPLY what you know to become the decision-maker.
You have to be able to think critically about what’s right and what’s wrong and solve the problem in order to make decisions. You are the only one taking the exam. It’s only you when you are treating patients.
The skill is in being able to critically think, problem-solve, and make decisions on your own.
That’s how I teach. By helping you learn the key concepts and help you use the strategies and tools that I’ve created.
The Hand Exam Prep program is full of videos that break down the Rehab of the Hand chapters into bite-size pieces of information that you need to know. Often compared to “Cliff-notes” or even “Rehab of the Hand for dummies” because it’s that easy to understand.
Save time and overwhelm from the amount of time it takes to read everything.
All the information and paid-up lectures help you cover at least 90% of the materials that you need to cover so that you can feel comfortable signing up for the exam.
You have failed in the past, and it’s made a dent in your confidence.
This one hurts. If you have NEVER failed an exam before, when you fail this exam, it hurts extra.
If you have failed other exams, generally, there is a fear that holds you back from thinking positively about being able to pass this exam.
Let me say this – failing this exam is not life or death. Yes, it’s a punch in the gut and a kick to the ego. No one wants this to happen.
But let it go. You have to let it go and be WILLING to try again. You won’t ever let yourself know what is POSSIBLE for you if you don’t try again.
What if that one job turned you down, and you stopped looking for a job?
What if that one setting said you didn’t have experience, so you stopped trying to get experience, then you would have never been able to work in hands?
What if that one hand patient left you for whatever reason, but you in your head are telling yourself stories that you are not good enough, and you stopped trying to give the best possible treatment to all your other patients.
What if you stopped trying altogether?
That’s a different kind of hard. That’s a different kind of failure.
If you have failed the Hand Therapy Exam or any other major exam and feel scared, worried, or defeated even before studying, you would be a great fit for our Hand Exam Prep program.
Gently get boosts of confidence as you study. Lift the pressures off yourself by being in a group of like-minded therapists who are here to support and help.
Learn the material in a way that you understand to apply it with your patients easily and on practice questions.
Get the support and mindset shifts that are often needed but never talked about so that you can keep going.
I’m here to help you until you pass. Then, as long as you are willing, my programs are here to help you. I’ve developed my programs to provide enough structure to help you learn at least 90% of all the material, focus so that you can go at a realistic pace, and support so that you can keep going.
You just want the help so you can go at warp speed.
You are a no-nonsense person who values your time. And you don’t want to waste any more of your time.
You DO NOT want to be the person saying, “I’m going to try to study by myself.” and look back, having wasted 3, 6, or even 9 months because you know that will just slow you down from reaching your goals.
One member came in last time and within 6 months, is killing it and ready for the exam. She didn’t feel the need to read everything. But she watched the videos – more than once. Came on the calls or caught them on replay. Asked questions as they came up. Did the practice questions and came on the study group calls where we went over practice questions.
Before signing up, she tried on her own and thought to herself, “why keep struggling alone?” Why keep wasting time trying to read when she DOES NOT learn well that way.
She signed up and hasn’t stopped.
She’s signed up, studied, and now is ready to sit for the exam. She feels really great and what makes me really happy is to know that my program made a difference in the flexibility in her thinking. She is prepared. She feels confident. And she trusts herself.
That’s all I can ask for in terms of success. The success in the prep work. Taking the exam is the cake. The passing score is you get to eat your cake.
We are ALL on this journey as occupational therapists to become expert certified hand therapists. (and my physical therapist friends are welcome as well!)
No matter where you are on your journey, it’s possible for you if you are willing to do that work that most just give up on.
No matter where you are on your journey, developing your skills and ability to make decisions gives you the ultimate autonomy (aka independence) to be able to take your skills anywhere – including on your own as your own boss.
No matter where you are on your journey, being the CHT before you become the CHT can be fun, easy, and doable. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
My Hand Exam Prep program can help you.
If you are ready to prepare and you want to know if this program is right for you – request a free Discovery Call with me.
