Each book from EBW Healthcare forms a course that you take on your own or in a small group. You manage the course yourself, and when you are finished, you write an exam, which you also manage yourself. EBW Healthcare courses enable you to take control of your own learning, without having to travel to training events or bring in expensive trainers.

You can work through all the content of our books on this site for free. When you want to take an exam in order to complete a course officially, you need to buy an exam number.

To do one of our courses properly, follow these steps.

1. Work through the book from the beginning to the end, starting with the first chapter.

If you have the printed book or have already bought an exam number: Before you start each chapter, take the test for that chapter (at the back of the book in the printed version; emailed to you if you bought an exam number). Do this by yourself even if you are studying with a group of colleagues. Choose the best answer for each multiple choice question and note your answers on a piece of paper. This is called your ‘pre-test’ for that chapter. There is an answer sheet that you should use to mark your completed pre-test. Record your pre-test mark out of 20.

2. Work through a chapter. Read each question and answer, and make sure you understand it. Pay particular attention to the key facts (in grey boxes in the printed book, in bold on the website). Read the case studies to check whether you have learned the important information.

3. When you think you have learned all the knowledge in that chapter, test your knowledge by going through the chapter, asking yourself the questions without reading the answers. Reread and learn any answers you get incorrect. Now you are ready to move on to the next chapter.

If you have the printed book or have already bought an exam number: When you think you have learned all the knowledge in that chapter, take the multiple-choice test for that chapter again. This second test is called your ‘post-test’. Now mark the post-test and compare your pre-test and post-test marks. Your marks should have improved considerably. In the answers section in the book, opposite each correct answer is the number of the section where the question was taken from. Re-read and learn the sections for any post-test answers you got incorrect. Now you are ready to move on to the next chapter.

Repeat steps 1 to 3 for each chapter as you work your way through the book. This enables you to monitor your progress and measure how much you are learning. Most people will take a few months to finish a full course.

4. Once you are confident that you have mastered all the main lessons in a book, decide whether you are ready to take the final examination. If you are ready, buy an exam number for that course and we will send you the examination paper, consisting of 50 multiple-choice questions. Set aside at least an hour to write the examination. When you write the examination, do not use the book to look up the correct answers. Remember, you are your own teacher, so be strict with yourself!

5. When you have completed the examination, post your completed examination paper back to the address on the examination paper.

6. If you get 80% or better, you will receive a certificate stating that you have successfully completed this course. If you failed to achieve 80%, you can apply to write the examination again.

Tips

• Work through the course with a group of friends or colleagues. One person in your group (your ‘convenor’) should take responsibility for organising meetings to discuss each chapter before you test your knowledge.
• Arrange for everyone to write the examination at the same time.
• Set yourself targets, such as ‘two units a month’.