First attempt at the CPC exam - which sections hit hardest?

8 weeks is tight but doable if you're already at 70–74%. The anatomy gap is fixable — I spent 2 focused weeks drilling body system coding and went from losing 6–8 points per section to losing 1–2. Anatomy flash cards plus chapter-by-chapter practice questions worked better than full-length tests during that phase.

The open book aspect helps but only if your books are prepared. I wasted about 15 minutes on my first attempt because my indexing wasn't good enough. On my second attempt I tabbed everything and it made a real difference. ICD-10-CM Tabular List tabs are just as important as CPT tabs.

One underrated area: HCPCS Level II codes. Most people barely study those and then get surprised when 8–10 questions on the real exam involve them. Even a few focused hours on DME and drug administration codes is worth it at this point in your prep.

I passed in March with a 76%. The surgical package and modifiers section was brutal — probably 25–30% of the exam from what I could estimate. Tab your CPT book obsessively; I had color-coded tabs by specialty and it saved me probably 20 minutes during the exam.

I was in almost the exact same spot six months ago -- working full-time and squeezing in study time wherever I could, usually early mornings before my kids woke up. Surgical package rules and global periods hit me harder than I expected too, honestly harder than E/M. What helped was drilling those sections separately with targeted practice questions from the study materials instead of just doing full timed exams over and over. Once I stopped treating global periods like a minor detail and actually memorized the day ranges cold, my scores jumped pretty fast.

At 70-74% with eight weeks left you're in a decent spot. Don't panic. The last few weeks before the exam I found that consistency mattered more than marathon sessions -- I kept my two-hour daily routine but got way more specific about what I was reviewing. You've got time to shore up those weak spots.

Surgical packages were my nightmare too, honestly. I work full-time in an office and was studying on lunch breaks and after my kids went to bed, so I couldn't always do long focused sessions. What actually helped me was doing 10-15 practice questions every single day instead of cramming on weekends. Short bursts kept it fresher in my brain.

The global period stuff clicks once you just drill it until it's automatic. Don't try to memorize every scenario, just get the logic down and the rest follows. At 70-74% you're closer than you think. I was sitting around 72% two weeks out and passed on my first try, so you've got this.

Surgical package rules were my nemesis too. What finally made them click wasn't memorizing the 90-day global period -- it was sitting with every wrong practice answer and forcing myself to explain out loud why it was wrong, not just what the right code was. Once I started doing that, I stopped confusing what's bundled into the package versus what you can actually bill separately because I understood the reasoning behind it.

You're honestly closer than you think at 70-74%. The gap between that and passing is usually just a handful of question types where the logic hasn't fully solidified yet. For me it was modifier 25 questions -- I kept getting them wrong until I drilled into the "why" on every missed one. If you're not already writing a short sentence explaining each wrong answer you pick, start now. It's tedious but it's the thing that actually moved my score.

Surgical packages absolutely wrecked me on my first attempt too, and honestly what changed everything was stopping myself from just circling the right answer and moving on. When I got something wrong in practice, I'd force myself to figure out exactly why each wrong choice was wrong, not just why the right one was right. It sounds tedious but it's the only reason the global period stuff finally clicked for me.

For the 70–74% range you're in, I'd say you're closer than you feel. Check out the study materials section if you haven't already, there's some solid breakdowns on bundling rules that helped me stop second-guessing myself mid-question. Eight weeks is genuinely enough time if you keep drilling the rationale behind every missed question.