The CABT Exam: What to Expect on Test Day

The CABT is a short exam with a long list of rules around it. Most people who struggle do not fail on the content; they lose time to a proctoring problem they could have solved the night before. This is what the two hours actually look like and how to arrive ready.

The format

100 questions in 2 hours. Closed book. An on-screen four-function calculator is provided, so you do not bring one and you do not need a scientific one. The exam is delivered by live remote proctoring and is available year round, which is the biggest practical difference between this and the CBET.

That works out to 72 seconds per question. It is enough time if you have practiced at that pace and not enough if every question is the first time you have tried to answer under a clock. Do at least two full-length timed runs before test day.

The six domains and their weights

Reasoning and Problem Solving                     24%
Medical Devices as Related to Patient Care        23%
Safety in Healthcare                              16%
Fundamentals of Electricity and Electronics       14%
Healthcare Information Technology                 13%
Anatomy and Physiology                            10%

Read that list twice, because it is not the list most candidates study for. Nearly half the exam sits in reasoning and in devices as they are used at the bedside. Those questions hand you a situation and ask what you would do or what the most likely cause is. Pure circuit math is 14 percent, and anatomy, the part people fear, is the smallest slice at 10 percent.

The practical consequence: do not spend six weeks memorizing anatomy and one weekend on troubleshooting method. Spend the time where the questions are.

The remote proctoring rules

This is where the exam gets strict. You need:

• A laptop or desktop with a movable webcam. Expect to be asked to pan the room with it before the exam starts. A fixed camera that cannot be aimed is a problem.
• An enclosed, quiet room with a door. Not a kitchen table in a shared apartment, not a library common area.
• A clear desk. No notes, no phone, no second monitor, no cup with writing on it. Clear it completely and let the proctor see it.
• Nobody else present for the whole two hours. Not a partner stepping in, not a child asking a question.

During the exam the behaviors that trigger a warning and then termination are: leaving the room, talking, reading questions aloud, wearing headphones, and repeatedly looking away from the screen. The last one catches honest people. If you think by staring at the ceiling, train yourself to think at the screen instead. Warnings come first, but you do not get many.

Results and retakes

The result is a pass or fail you see as soon as you finish, with email confirmation within 24 hours. There is no multi-week wait and no scaled score to interpret.

The 2026 fee is $220 for AAMI members or $270 for non-members. If you fail, the retake wait is 60 days, and the retake fee drops to $190 for members or $240 for non-members. Remember also that the original fee is non-refundable and the exam must be taken within six months of purchase, so do not buy the seat until you know when you are sitting.

The credential is valid for five years and does not renew. That shapes how you use it: pass it, then put it to work on a job search right away rather than letting two of the five years go by.

How to spend the last week

1. Seven days out: stop reading new material. Everything from here is review of what you already got wrong.
2. Six to four days out: two full-length timed runs, 100 questions in 2 hours each, on separate days. Score them and list the domains that dragged.
3. Three days out: drill only those domains. If reasoning is weak, work situation questions and say your reasoning out loud before checking. If electricity is weak, do unit conversions and Ohm's law until they are automatic.
4. Two days out: test the room. Open your webcam, pan it around, clear the desk, and sit in the chair for two hours doing something boring. Fix whatever annoys you now.
5. The day before: review your numbers once, confirm the appointment, and stop. Sleep is worth more than another hour of questions.
6. Test day: eat first, close every other program, have your ID ready, and log in early.