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| CPH Exam Information |
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| Eligibility |
 In order to be eligible to sit for the National Board of Public Health Examiners Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam, all candidates must have or be earning a graduate level degree (Masters or Doctoral) from a school or program of public health accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)*.
For the 2012 CPH exam, alumni are eligible so long as they have completed all degree requirements, including, but not limited to, coursework, internships, and thesis, by December 31, 2011. Walking in a graduation ceremony or receipt of a diploma is not necessary, so long as all degree requirements have been met and verified by the accredited institution.
For the 2012 CPH exam, students are eligible so long as they have completed 21 credit hours towards their public health degree by December 31, 2011. The 21 hours must include completion of or concurrent enrollment in applicable core courses in Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Health Services/Policy Management, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. NBPHE will automatically verify every candidate's eligibility with their alma mater or academic institution.
When you pass the exam and all requirements for graduation have been verified, you will be Certified in Public Health, and can add the initials CPH to your name and degree.
*The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency which accredits schools of public health and public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health. See the list of schools and programs accredited by CEPH. |
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| Registration |
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| Registration for the 2012 Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam has closed. Please check back here in the future for more information on the 2013 exam. |
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Paying for the Exam
(Credit Cards / Money Order / Check) |
You may pay the registration fees with a credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) or mail in your payment with a check or money order to payable to: National Board of Public Health Examiners.
IMPORTANT: Your registration fee is calculated based on when your application is complete and ready to be processed – this includes payment. We can only process your application once it is complete. If you use a credit card, your application will be considered complete almost immediately.
Please be sure the amount of your check or money order corresponds to the date we will receive your payment. Failure to submit proper payment in full will suspend the processing of your registration. |
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| Mail My Money Order/Check? |
Mail Address:
National Board of Public Health Examiners
1900 M Street NW, Suite 710
Washington, DC 20036 |
You have completed the application for the CPH exam when you electronically submit all required information and your registration fee is received by the NBPHE. You will automatically receive an email receipt through the registration portal. Then the registration portal will automatically verify your academic eligibility for the CPH exam. Turnaround time for verification varies by alma mater. You will automatically receive an email confirmation that your eligibility has been verified. In the meantime, NBPHE will email you when Scheduling Permits are available. Any non-verified registrants will have their Scheduling Permits cancelled and can defer.
*The registration fee is not refundable but it is deferrable. The international exam fee is not refundable.
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| Scheduling |
Approximately 16 weeks before the opening of the CPH exam testing window, Scheduling Permits (SP) will be made available. The SP includes detailed instructions on how to schedule the exam date, time, and location, as well as the Scheduling Number that you need to do so. You should verify the information on your Scheduling Permit before scheduling your appointment. Your Scheduling Permit includes the following:
- your name,
- the examination for which you registered,
- your Scheduling Number,
- Your Candidate Identification Number (CAN).
Note: Your Scheduling Number is needed when you contact Prometric to schedule a test appointment. It differs from your Candidate Identification Number (CIN), which is your private key, and is needed to test. Prometric does not have access to your CIN.
A Scheduling Permit authorizes a candidate to sit for the CPH exam. The Scheduling Permit contains information and instructions for the candidate to contact Prometric, the company that provides the testing centers where the exam will be given. The Scheduling Permit contains the candidate´s scheduling number which is needed to schedule the exam date, time, and location. CANDIDATES MUST HAVE THEIR SCHEDULING PERMIT BEFORE THEY CAN CONTACT PROMETRIC TO SCHEDULE THEIR EXAM DATE, TIME, OR LOCATION.
NBPHE WILL NOT GIVE OUT SCHEDULING NUMBERS or CANDIDATE IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS OVER THE TELEPHONE.
You will not be admitted to the testing room without the Scheduling Permit and an unexpired, government-issued form of identification that includes both your photograph and signature. If your name is misspelled on your Scheduling Permit or differs from your name as it appears on your identification, contact the NBPHE immediately. Name changes or corrections must be made prior to 7 business days of your scheduled testing date.
You must bring your Scheduling Permit to Prometric in order to take the CPH exam. If you forget to bring your Scheduling Permit/CIN, you will be barred from your scheduled testing appointment.
Candidates with a Scheduling Permit can schedule their exam appointment for any date during the three week testing window. Appointments are assigned on a "first-come, first-served" basis; therefore, you should contact Prometric to schedule as soon as possible after you print your Scheduling Permit.
Provide a valid telephone number and email address when scheduling so Prometric can email you a Confirmation Notice and contact you in the unlikely event that your appointment must be rescheduled.
When you schedule your appointment, you will receive the following specific information:
- The confirmed test date and time
- the address and telephone number of the Prometeric Test Cener where you will test
- your Prometric Confirmation Number(s)
Using the information above, schedule a test date via the Prometric website at www.prometric.com, available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, or call 877-291-4644 located in Baltimore, MD, available M-F 8AM-8PM (local time). Provide a valid telephone number and email address when scheduling so Prometric can email you a Confirmation Notice and contact you in the event that your appointment must be rescheduled.
*IMPORTANT: Scheduling Permits specify the location you chose on your registration form (*Domestic–US/Canada/Puerto Rico or * International – a specific country) by REGION. If you choose a location outside of the US/Canada, the Scheduling Permit will only allow you to register for a testing site in the REGION you selected.
Request Special Accommodations
See http://www.nbphe.org/FAQs.cfm#Disabilities |
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| Exam Content and Scoring |
| Content |
The exam will cover the five core areas of knowledge offered in CEPH–accredited schools and programs as well as cross–cutting areas relevant to contemporary public health.
| Five Core Areas: |
Cross–Cutting Areas: |
| Biostatistics |
Communication and Informatics |
| Environmental Health Sciences |
Diversity and Culture |
| Epidemiology |
Leadership |
| Health Policy and Management |
Public Health Biology |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Professionalism |
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Programs Planning |
| Systems Thinking |
The exam is timed and consists of 200 questions. Standard time allotted to complete the exam is 4.5 hours. All questions on the exam are multiple choice. All questions are single-best answer. Some questions are matching items. Some questions are part of a series of questions related to a common vignette. Some questions have associated pictorials or charts. Click here to download sample questions. |
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| Scoring |
The CPH exam is scored overall as pass/fail.
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A score report is provided to each examinee that includes:
- Total score for the entire exam;
- Separate scores for each of the 5 core competencies;
- Separate score for all cross–cutting competencies combined
- Whether the examinee´s score is sufficient for certification
The examination was crafted to assess knowledge of core and cross-cutting public health competencies, regardless of academic concentration in preparation. However, NBPHE recognizes that the diversity of the field and our educational approaches to it vary considerably. As such, experts examine each item for its performance (i.e. was the answer coded correctly, was the correct answer chosen as expected or was the item clearly confusing), for its difficulty (again, based on performance and based on expert opinion), and for its usefulness in contributing to the overall score (i.e. if 100% of examinees answered correctly it is not an informative item). At the conclusion of this item analysis, NBPHE conducts a content–based analysis to generate statistical information for determining the minimum passing standard (Angoff and Hofstee procedures). A Standard Setting Committee determined the score required to achieve certification using results from the study and performance data on the exam.
The passing rates for CPH exams to date are: 84% in 2008; 74% in 2009; 88% in 2010; 86% in 2011.
Scores will be available 45 business days after the last day of the testing window. Scores are delivered electronically through Personal NBPHE Portals in NBPHE Online Services. |
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| Policies |
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Policy on Inappropiate, Unprofessional, or Unacceptable Examinee Behavior Associated with the National Certification Examiniation. ALL CANDIDATES FOR THIS EXAMINATION MUST READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT BEFORE TAKING THE EXAM:
The reproduction, dissemination or sharing of any NBPHE examination materials or the use of such material in preparation for the exam including, but not limited to questions, formatting or potential answers, by any means, including, but not limited to reconstruction from memory, electronic and/or digital recording, or posting to web sites, is an express violation of NBPHE policy. Any candidate determined by the NBPHE to have violated this policy will be subject to having examination results invalidated and not reported, and the candidate may be prohibited from re–taking the examination. Violations of this policy by a candidate may also be subject to state and federal civil and criminal laws and penalties. |
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| Infection Control |
- As of summer 2009, candidates will be permitted to wear medical face masks during their exams if they choose, after inspection and a photograph of the candidate is taken without the mask. Prometric states, "Although the Centers for Disease Control have communicated that the wearing of masks is only minimally effective in virus prevention, wearing them does seem to be providing peace of mind to some people. We have therefore decided to allow candidates to wear medical face masks during their exams if they choose. Please note that Prometric reserves the right to require every candidate wearing a mask to temporarily remove it for inspection prior to being allowed in the testing room. Candidates will also be required to remove it to have their photograph taken. Only then will they be allowed in the test room. Prometric will not provide masks to candidates who request them." When the state of public health emergency is lifted, Prometric will resume their standard operating procedure and not allow an examinee to wear a mask in the testing room without prior approval from the test-sponsoring organization and NBME.
- As an added precautionary measure, Prometric Test Center Administrators have been instructed to clean and disinfect workstations/keyboards/mice after each administration. If desired, a candidate could ask the Prometric Test Center Administrator to wipe the keyboard clean at the start of the exam. Please note that such a request could only be accommodated after all other candidates are checked- in, so as to not delay other candidates.
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