CAET study guide
CAET · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CAET is a certification exam for allied health professionals working in assistive technology and rehabilitation, covering the selection, fitting, and support of prostheses, orthotics, and related devices. Candidates typically come from clinical, technical, and rehabilitation backgrounds and sit the exam to demonstrate a defined body of knowledge to employers, payers, and the public. The CAET study guide has 8 sections and about 1,758 words.
01Basic Sciences
Basic sciences for the CAET candidate means applied anatomy, biomechanics, tissue healing, and neurophysiology as they touch clinical decisions rather than isolated facts. Know the lever classes and how muscle moment arms change with joint angle; understand stress-strain behavior of skin, tendon, and bone; and be able to reason about phases of wound and fracture healing and what each phase implies for load tolerance.
260 words, about 1 min02Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis
Assessment questions reward a structured sequence: history, observation, then targeted special tests interpreted in context. Understand sensitivity versus specificity and how prevalence changes predictive values.
247 words, about 1 min03Medical and Surgical Management
This domain covers the medical and surgical context surrounding rehabilitation: common conditions, pharmacological effects relevant to therapy, surgical procedures and their precautions, and recognition of red flags. Know typical postoperative protocols and the rationale behind weight-bearing, range-of-motion, and immobilization restrictions.
223 words, about 1 min04Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Interventions
Focus on exercise prescription principles: overload, specificity, progression, and recovery; plus motor learning, manual therapy indications, and modality selection. Understand dosing - intensity, frequency, duration - and how to progress or regress an exercise.
222 words, about 1 min05Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Assistive Technology
Understand component selection, fitting principles, and functional training for prostheses and orthoses, plus assistive technology assessment. Know the trade-off between stability and energy cost, how socket fit affects comfort and skin integrity, and how orthotic design (three-point pressure, ankle-foot orthosis alignment) controls motion.
213 words, about 1 min06Professional Practice, Ethics, and Patient Safety
Know informed consent, confidentiality, scope of practice, documentation standards, and conflict-of-interest principles. Understand patient safety fundamentals: fall prevention, infection control, device safety, and incident reporting.
206 words, about 1 min07Research, Evidence, and Quality Improvement
Understand study designs, levels of evidence, and basic statistics: measures of central tendency and dispersion, confidence intervals, p-values, effect size, and number needed to treat. Know the difference between internal and external validity, and between statistical and clinical significance.
209 words, about 1 min08Interprofessional and Communication Skills
Know team roles, handover structures, conflict resolution, and patient-centered communication. Understand SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) for structured communication and teach-back for confirming patient understanding.
178 words, under 1 min