CAQ-Nephrology exam-day guide
CAQ-Nephrology · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Appointment confirmation and scheduling permit
Have your confirmation number, exact appointment time, test center address, and the exam name as it appears in your scheduling portal accessible the night before. Whether a printed copy is accepted or required varies by provider and site, so confirm with the provider whether a digital copy on your phone is sufficient - the phone itself will go into a locker, so a printout is the safer default.
Primary government-issued photo ID
Your name on the ID must match your registration exactly, including middle names and suffixes. Use an unexpired passport or driver's license with signature and photo. Confirm with the provider which ID forms are accepted for your appointment type, since rules differ between in-person test centers and remote-proctored deliveries.
Secondary ID (if required)
Some test centers ask for a second form of identification, often a credit card or student/work ID without a photo. This requirement is site- and provider-specific; check your candidate instructions rather than assuming, and carry a second ID so you are not turned away at check-in.
Route, parking, and arrival plan
Know the building, floor, and suite number, and whether parking needs prepayment. Test centers are often in office parks with confusing numbering. Plan to arrive well before your appointment time so a traffic delay, elevator queue, or security check-in does not cost you your seat.
Layered clothing
Testing rooms are frequently cold and you cannot leave to fetch a jacket mid-block. Wear layers you can remove without disturbing neighbors, and avoid clothing with large logos, hoods, or many pockets that slow security screening.
Snack and water for breaks
These stay in your locker, not at your workstation. Bring something compact and quiet that will not spike and crash your energy mid-exam: nuts, a banana, a protein bar. Caffeine is fine if it matches your normal habit, but do not introduce a new energy drink on exam day.
Leave watches, phones, and wearables behind or plan to locker them
Smartwatches, fitness bands, and phones are prohibited at the workstation. Leave jewelry and valuables at home to reduce locker clutter and loss risk. Set your phone to silent, or off, before storing it so an alarm does not create a conduct issue.
Medications and necessary medical devices
If you need medication, an insulin pump, glucose monitor, or similar device during the exam, do not assume it will be permitted at your seat. Contact the provider in advance about procedures for medical devices and any accommodation approval you may need.
Formula and criteria recall sheet (mental, not physical)
You will not be allowed to bring notes. Before exam day, lock in the high-yield quantitative tools: fractional excretion of sodium, transtubular potassium gradient limitations, corrected sodium for hyperglycemia, anion gap and delta-delta, Winter's formula, serum osmolal gap, urine osmolal gap, and KDIGO staging thresholds for acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.
Accommodations confirmed in writing
Testing accommodations almost always require advance application and approval, with a decision lead time measured in weeks, not days. If you have an approved accommodation, bring the approval letter and confirm the site has received it. If you have not applied, it is likely too late for this administration.
Provider customer service contact
Save the phone number for the certifying board and the test center in your phone and on paper. If you are turned away, the site loses power, or your appointment record is wrong, you want a documented call the same day rather than an email sent a week later.
Sleep and light-review plan
The single highest-yield item on this list. A rested candidate recovers more points than an extra night of cramming adds. Set a hard stop on studying the evening before and protect seven to eight hours of sleep, adjusting your bedtime two to three nights ahead if you are a night owl.
Plan the day
Switch from learning to consolidating. Re-read your own condensed notes on your weakest content domains - typically glomerular disease, acid-base and electrolyte disorders, dialysis prescription and adequacy, and transplant immunosuppression and complications. Work a small number of timed question blocks to rehearse pacing, then review only the misses. Stop opening new resources. Confirm your appointment time, address, and ID requirements, and resolve any discrepancy in your name or date now rather than on arrival. Protect sleep starting tonight, not the night before.
Do a logistics day, not a study day. Reconfirm the appointment in the scheduling portal, print or screenshot the confirmation, and physically lay out your ID, layers, snack, and water by the door. Drive or map the route and identify parking. Review only a single page of formulas and threshold values in the morning, then stop. Eat a normal dinner, avoid alcohol, set two alarms plus a backup, and go to bed at your usual time.
Eat a normal breakfast - familiar food, normal caffeine, nothing experimental. Arrive at the test center with buffer time to absorb a delay; being early is the cheapest insurance available. At check-in, present your ID, complete the palm-vein or photo capture, empty pockets, and store everything in the locker. Use the restroom before you sit down. Accept the confidentiality agreement and start the tutorial calmly; if the tutorial counts against your time, confirm that with the proctor before beginning.
Before question one, test the provided erasable board or marker, adjust the chair and monitor, and set your pace target for the first block based on the number of questions and minutes shown. Write down your formula list immediately while your head is clear - it becomes a reference you can trust for the rest of the exam. Read the last line of each vignette first so the stem's actual question anchors your reading.
Answer every question; there is no credit for blanks. Flag anything requiring more than roughly ninety seconds and move on, returning within the block if time allows. Watch the block clock rather than the total, and take the scheduled break between blocks even if you feel fine - a two-minute walk and a sip of water reliably improves the second half. If a question seems to have two correct answers, look for the qualifier: next best step, most likely diagnosis, initial management, or mechanism.
Reserve the last few minutes of the final block to clear flags and confirm no unanswered items. When you finish, collect your score report if one is issued at the site and note what it says about pass status and domain performance, since subspecialty results are often released later rather than immediately - confirm the expected reporting window with the provider. Write down any content areas that felt weak while the memory is fresh, in case you ever need a retake plan. Do not discuss specific question content with anyone.
Rules to check
Identification: present an unexpired government-issued photo ID with your signature, and ensure the name matches your registration exactly. Candidates are routinely turned away over a maiden name, a middle initial, or an expired document. Confirm the accepted ID forms with the provider before exam day rather than relying on what worked at another testing vendor.
Arrival and lateness: arrive early. Providers commonly set a cut-off after which a late candidate forfeits the seat and the fee, but the exact grace period varies; confirm it in your candidate instructions. If you are delayed by something outside your control, call the test center and the certifying board immediately and get a record of the call.
Personal items: nothing except your ID and provided scratch materials belongs at the workstation. Phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, notes, and study sheets must be silenced and stored. Bringing study material into the testing room is typically treated as a serious security violation, not a minor infraction, and can void your result.
Breaks: scheduled breaks between blocks are the ones to use. Unscheduled breaks may be permitted but can consume your testing time, and the exact rule depends on the exam; confirm with the provider before you plan to step out. Keep breaks short and hydrate modestly so you are not losing minutes to the restroom.
Scoring: these exams are criterion-referenced - the passing standard is set by the board through standard-setting methods, not by a curve against other candidates on your day. Score reports may break out performance by content domain. Some exams include unscored pretest items, so a handful of unfamiliar questions is expected and not a signal that you are failing.
Guessing: there is no penalty for an incorrect answer, so never leave a question blank. If time is short, fill in a response for every remaining item before the block closes, then return to flagged questions if minutes remain.
Confidentiality: you will agree not to record, reproduce, or discuss exam content. Do not post question details to forums or study groups afterward. Violations can invalidate your score and affect eligibility for future examinations, and they are actively investigated.
Accommodations and special circumstances: any testing accommodation, medical device permission, or schedule change must be requested and approved in advance through the certifying board, not negotiated with the proctor on arrival. If you have an approval, carry documentation. If you become ill during the exam, notify the proctor immediately and ask for the incident to be documented.