It is well known that we create study materials for several board exams. I’m often one of the first to know when changes happen because people ask me how it should impact their preparations! The 2021 BCMTMS Exam changes are some of the most expansive that I have seen to any board exam. You must be aware of these changes if you are considering pursuing this board certification in 2021 and beyond. Let’s get into the details.

2021 BCMTMS Exam Changes – Content Outline

The most prominent 2021 BCMTMS exam change is that the content outline is expanding. While I cannot say that the questions will be more or less difficult than the 2020 version of the BCMTMS exam, I can say that it will be more time consuming to prepare for this exam as the topic list to cover has ballooned. Because of this expansion in “testable” content, we have added nearly 300 slides and numerous hours to our review course. In addition, we have added nearly 500 additional practice questions to our question bank.

What has been added to the content outline? While the % of questions on pharmacotherapy went down (very slightly), the topic list that you need to be prepared for expanded in a big way. Here’s the link with the full content outline, but I will give you a summary of the biggest topics that were added below.

• Hormone replacement therapy
• Nutrition and diet management
• UTI
• Birth control and contraceptives
• Prenatal care and pregnancy
• Epilepsy
• Parkinson’s disease
• Drug allergy
• Psoriasis
• Transplant
• Chronic Kidney diseases
• Pediatrics
• Geriatrics
• Ophthalmic disorders
• Dermatological disorders
• Oncologic disorders specific to side effect management, screening, testing, and adherence
• Immunization recommendations
• Anemia
• Cirrhosis

As you can tell by this list, there are numerous topic areas that were added that are very vague and could be treated as subset specialties (i.e. geriatrics, oncology, etc.). With our study materials, we’ve done our best to give you the most important highlights in these topic areas as well as have practice questions to help identify if you are particularly weak in an area. My best advice with these exams is that it is best to know a little about many different topics than being an expert in one. Think BROAD!

Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is the second biggest change over previous years’ exams. This change actually took place in 2020, but now it is officially listed on the content outline with a percentage. You can anticipate approximately 10 questions in relation to pharmacogenomics. On a 200 question exam, this isn’t an astronomical amount, but getting several of these wrong could hurt your chance. It is definitely a topic area I would spend some time studying, especially if you don’t have a solid background in this area.

Slightly Less Billing And documentaiton

The percentage of questions relating to billing and documentation is slightly lower than the previous content outline. Overall, this topic area covers 7.5% of the 2021 BCMTMS Exam. Do not overlook this area and I would anticipate 15 or so questions from this topic. This is a reduction from 10% in 2020. From the feedback I’ve gotten on our All-Access Pass, I feel that we have done a good job of hitting the highlights in our study materials.

Testing Window – 2021 BCMTMS Exam Change

Testing windows have not been an issue in the past, but this is going to change with the BCMTMS exam in 2021. You can no longer take the exam whenever you want. There are 4 set testing windows with a specific registration period prior to that exam window. This may require a little more planning if you are looking to become a Board Certified Medication Therapy Management Specialist. Here’s the full announcement on this.

Miscellaneous Changes For 2021

The BCMTMS examination is split into two parts with 100 questions each. Candidates have up to two hours to complete each part. So it is really important to set a good pace (50 questions per 60 minutes). My best advice when using our practice questions and exam would be to target 1 minute per question. This will allow you to review and proof questions that you may want to come back to as you are wrapping up each part.

Once you have submitted Part 1 (100 questions) and move on to Part 2, you CANNOT go back and review Part 1. After completing part one of the examination, candidates will have the option of taking a 15-minute break or move on to part 2.

Due to COVID-19, you will have the option for live-online proctoring in 2021. Per the BCMTMS folks, this is only temporary for 2021.

In summing up the most important points about the 2021 BCMTMS exam changes, be sure to do a little more planning in regards to the registration and testing periods and when studying for the exam, be sure to allow a little more time to prepare for the expanded content outline.

I hope that helps and best wishes in 2021 and beyond!

Study Materials for the BCMTMS Exam can be found here.

Here’s some of the testimonials from our content as well:

“Hi Eric, I just wanted to let you know that I took your BCMTMS review course and I just found out I passed the exam. I worked your program every day and it certainly made the difference in my becoming certified, and I learned a lot as well. Thanks for the excellent course and I would recommend it to anyone trying to become certified”. – Jeff Pearlroth

“First-class work Eric! I recently took the BCMTMS exam. I purchased your BCMTMS study material. I have been a retail pharmacist for 20 years. Your program taught me how to once again think clinically. The BCMTMS exam is no pushover. It is lengthy and can be quite confounding. Do not underestimate the level of difficulty of this examination. I listened to your audio lectures several hours each day while driving. I passed on the first attempt. Good work and thank you for helping many. I highly recommend purchasing Eric’s material if you are interested in taking the BCMTMS examination. His program lays a profound understanding of clinical knowledge and unique clinical pearls, some of which were included in the exam. Thank you, Eric, for your good work. This will be used to help many of our patients.” – Michael Fulghum

“Hi, I just wanted to thank you for sharing your review on the BCMTMS exam. I literally watched every video and read the review 2 nights before and passed the exam with flying colors! Again thank you for your time and hard work. Very much appreciated!” – Israel Santiago

“I passed the exam this month and the result far surpassed the minimum passing score. I credit this to the organization of material and the quiz questions within your study guide.
Thanks again.” – Raquel Macfarlane

“I took about a month ago… I PASSED! I think, based on the scoring system, I did pretty well too. I wanted to say thank you very much for your study guide. Extremely helpful for someone like me who hadn’t taken a test like this in 15 years and had no idea where to start.” – Bryan Coehrs

“I just received my results and I passed my BCMTMS Exam! Your gracious time and effort to put together those banks of questions that actually help us is appreciated. I honestly stayed up reading almost all of them and reading the rationale and learning new information. I will apply this Information to my practice and MTM work.” – Keishon T.