Failed my first CVT attempt with a 61% and honestly didn't know what hit me. I'd been treating it like just another specialty cert and that was wrong. The vestibular content goes deep - you need to really understand the anatomy of the inner ear, the semicircular canals, otolith organs, and how dysfunction in each presents clinically. Passing is 70% so I was close but not close enough.
For my second attempt I restructured completely. I spent 8 weeks this time instead of 4, doing about 2 hours a day. The first 3 weeks were pure content review - Herdman's Vestibular Rehabilitation is the gold standard text and I went through the clinical chapters twice. Weeks 4-6 I did practice questions every day, minimum 50 questions a session. The last 2 weeks were all timed mock exams.
The exam has roughly 150 questions and you get 3 hours. About 40% of questions felt like they were testing your clinical reasoning rather than memorized facts - they give you a patient case and you have to work through it. That's where my first attempt fell apart; I was pattern-matching instead of thinking it through.
Passed with a 76% on my second try. The VEDA website has some free resources and a candidate handbook that's actually worth reading cover to cover before you start studying - it tells you exactly what domains get the heaviest weighting.
The case-based questions are what get people. You really can't just memorize the BPPV repositioning maneuvers - you have to know why you're doing each step. I passed on my first attempt with a 74% but barely, and I attribute it to doing 3 full mock exams the week before.
The VEDA candidate handbook really does lay out the blueprint clearly. If you cross-reference that with your weak areas on practice tests you can prioritize efficiently. I wasted my first 2 weeks studying stuff that barely showed up on the exam.
Did you use any question banks besides what VEDA provides? I'm 6 weeks out from my test date and feel okay on content but haven't found great practice questions. The official practice test feels shorter than the real thing.
Herdman is dense but worth it. I also found reading JAMA Otolaryngology review articles on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo helpful - a few questions on my exam felt like they were pulled right from current clinical guidelines.