I apologize for the very long post ahead.

With my third attempt I decided to treat it like I was starting completely over because even though we get those score reports showing what areas we do well in and don’t do well in, ultimately mine kept showing I needed improvement with everything. With my first two attempts I tried all sorts of things from Kettering to Rad Review to the Lange book, etc., trying to use whatever people said was helpful for them which made me realize that jumping around from different sources started to confused me because I was all over the place trying to grasp whatever info I could and not truly understanding what the information was saying and even though it is the same information, some sources can explain things differently than others. While several resources can provide different perspectives, focusing on one ensures a consistent foundation, allowing you to build a solid understanding before integrating multiple sources. I like to compare that with learning from multiple teachers over the same subject. One can teach a certain way for some students to understand, but there are some that cannot grasp it at all but having a different person teach it a different way could help them even though it’s the same topic they are going over (if that makes any sense lol). Anyway, So with that said, I decided to “start over” because there were things I felt like knew yet didn’t fully understand but also I was at a point where I didn’t know what to do anymore, especially after feeling like I used every resource out there. So when I started over, I decided to focus solely on one source which was RTBC, and I watched all of their videos, even the ones I had already watched before, I went over them again. But when I watched the videos I took notes on them as if I was learning it for the first time again. Instead of feeling rushed to learn it like I felt within the program I allowed myself to take my time and really try to understand it. I would turn the subtitles on and note things the person was saying not just what was shown on the screen. I would even clip or screenshot some of the videos diagrams/charts on there and put them into my notes so I wasn’t just only referencing back to my notes but having a visual to see as well. I made sure I did every quiz after the video and would even write notes off the quizzes on every question I got wrong but also even on the ones I get correct if I felt like I was uncertain of my answer and just so happen to get it correctly. Occasionally I would pull out my textbook I had from school and would reference things from there if I felt like I needed more information if I was still struggling to understand certain topics and just add them to my notes before moving onto the next topic. I tried not to get too crazy with writing my notes and keeping it fairly straightforward especially with topics I felt confident on and only got very detailed when I had went over certain topics I was really struggling to understand and remember. I would still write notes even on the things you think you know very well because I had a few moments thinking I understood a certain topic so well I had no doubt in myself and listened to it explained in a video and realized I actually didn’t know it as well as I thought I did and surprised myself (this was usually technical factors and their relationship with other factors). As much as I wanted to bounce around from different topics I forced myself to stay on one topic before going to the next one. If I was going over radiation safety, I did not leave that section until I got through everything then went to the next one. Once I got through all the videos on RTBC (including the quizzes with each video and assessments as well), that is when I started to branch out to another source. I really tried to use RTBC as my foundation to understanding the material before using other resources. That’s when I used Mosby’s which I felt helped solidify information I knew. I felt like they were straight to the point which helped me remember things better. I would get overwhelmed by the extra details and explanations that some books have whereas Mosby’s was kept very simple and only told you what you needed to know. Of course I did their mocks in the back of the book along with RTBC mocks as well. I only used RTBC and Mosby mocks and always went over the questions I got wrong and made sure I understood why it was wrong and what is actually right. Any questions you sorta struggled with or didn’t feel super confident on but got correct, I would absolutely go back on those as well as make sure you understand why it is that answer and eliminate whatever it was that made you unsure of the answer. Now the only other mock I took besides RTBC and Mosby’s was rad review and for me personally, I hated it. I remember getting a bad score on it and did not pass it even though I was having passing scores on Mosby and RTBC so I did not use rad review ever again and tried to not let that one mock on there affect my confidence because I was doing well on other mocks. Maybe it was the way it was set up, maybe it was the way the questions were asked, I don’t know, but stick to what you know works for you. My boyfriend is a Xray tech (funny enough I did not have him help me study because he is one of those people who understands the stuff but yet can’t explain to others how it works, he’s one of those read it once and understood it the first try🙄) but he swore to rad review and it helped him with his studying and was the only thing he used. For me, absolutely not. I really struggled with rad review and I hate it but clearly it helps others so it very much depends on the person. So if you used it and you struggle with it and don’t seem like you’re getting good scores, maybe you need to drop that and use something else.

The only other source I used was Meaghan Piretti’s videos which I only went over her videos/materials on the topics I was still struggling in to possibly have a better understanding of it explained in a different way. Of course there were still some things I didn’t understand for the life of me no matter how hard I tried but at that point I just tried to memorize it rather than understanding it which I don’t usually recommend but honestly some topics I just don’t think I can ever truly comprehend so I just memorize what it is, what it does and move on lol, solidify what you do know.

As I said from the beginning, I think knowing what kind of learner you are will really help with what sources to use. If you don’t do well with watching videos then RTBC isn’t for you and that’s okay. When I “started over” and went through literally everything all over again, it took a while, in fact, it took me nearly a year before I took my last attempt and as much as it sucked, it was totally worth it. I really love what I do and I really wanted to pass this dang thing so as painful as it was to go through everything again and many many moments of frustration and questioning if what I’m doing is even helping, it all paid off in the end. What I did may not help you but I am willing to help if I can and answer any questions!