CMI Practice Test

The Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI) credential is awarded by the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. This page is for interpreters preparing for the written or oral exam. It lists the verified exam facts, maps our free practice sets to the official content areas, and walks through sample questions with explanations.

CMI Exam at a Glance

What the CMI is and how it works

According to National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters, “The written exam is a multiple choice, computerized exam containing 51 multiple-choice, single answer questions. The exam is only offered in English.”^[1]

The CMI is a credential for medical interpreters, issued by the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI). It has a written exam and an oral exam. Exams are given at Prometric test centers or by live remote proctoring through Prometric's ProProctor application.

The written exam is computerized and offered only in English. It has 51 scored multiple-choice questions, plus 5–10 unscored pretest items, and you get 75 minutes. You need at least 75% to pass, and you see your result right after the exam. The oral exam is scored by language: 70% for Cantonese, Korean, Russian and Spanish, 80% for Mandarin, and 65% for Vietnamese. Oral results arrive by email within 6–8 weeks.

Fees are $40 to register for the CMI program, $190 for the written exam and $300 for the oral exam. All are non-refundable, and rescheduling the oral exam costs $25. An exam fee expires after a year if you have not taken the exam.

If you do not pass, you can retake after a 3-month wait. After 3 retakes you may attempt the exam once per calendar year, and the oral exam has a maximum of 5 attempts. The credential is valid for 5 years. Renewal costs $300 and needs 3 CEUs (30 hours of approved continuing education).

Eligibility requirements and language availability are set by NBCMI and can change, so check the official site before you apply. Our practice questions are written by us with AI tools. They are not real exam questions.

CMI content outline and where to practise each area

The content areas below are copied from the official CMI content outline published by National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.

Worked examples: how to reason through CMI questions

These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.

Example 1

Question: When a patient uses a regional dialect that the interpreter is unfamiliar with, the best course of action is to:

1. Continue interpreting and guess the meaning
2. Inform the provider and ask the patient to clarify
3. Request a different interpreter with that dialect knowledge
4. Summarize the patient's message

Answer: B. Inform the provider and ask the patient to clarify

Explanation:

The best answer is to inform the provider and ask the patient to clarify. The interpreter's job is accuracy, so an unfamiliar dialect term is something to say out loud, not hide. Guessing risks a wrong message in a clinical setting. Asking for a different interpreter is not the immediate step, because the conversation can often continue once the term is clarified. Summarizing drops detail the provider may need, and it breaks the duty to convey the full message. Rule to remember: when you are unsure, tell both parties you need clarification rather than filling the gap yourself.

Example 2

Question: Which of the following best describes the integumentary system in the human body?

1. The system responsible for regulating blood glucose levels and producing insulin.
2. The system consisting of the skin, mucous membranes, hair, and nails, serving as a protective barrier against pathogens and environmental damage.
3. The network of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels that transport fluids and nutrients throughout the body.
4. The complex network of nerves that transmit sensory information between the brain and body organs.

Answer: B. The system consisting of the skin, mucous membranes, hair, and nails, serving as a protective barrier against pathogens and environmental damage.

Explanation:

The integumentary system is the skin, mucous membranes, hair and nails, and it acts as a protective barrier. The option about blood glucose and insulin describes the endocrine system. The option about blood and lymphatic vessels describes the circulatory and lymphatic systems. The option about nerves carrying sensory information describes the nervous system. Rule to remember: learn each body system by its main structures and its main job, because interpreters hear the terms in both working languages and must match them accurately.

Example 3

Question: Which of the following is a recognized risk factor for interpreter burnout in mental health settings?

1. Interpreting for highly educated patients
2. Frequent exposure to graphic trauma narratives without adequate organizational support
3. Working with a variety of different clinicians
4. Interpreting via telephone rather than in person

Answer: B. Frequent exposure to graphic trauma narratives without adequate organizational support

Explanation:

Frequent exposure to graphic trauma narratives without adequate organizational support is a recognized burnout risk. Hearing and repeating distressing content wears on interpreters, and a lack of debriefing makes it worse. Interpreting for highly educated patients, working with different clinicians, and interpreting by telephone are not recognized risk factors in themselves. Some may add challenges, but none is the pattern linked to vicarious trauma. Rule to remember: the risk comes from repeated traumatic content combined with missing support, so look for the answer that names both.

How to use these practice tests

Start with the official NBCMI material and write down the content areas listed in the table above. Use that list as your checklist, not a reading list.

Take a practice set for each content area and note which ones you miss most. Do not just reread the answer. For every miss, write the rule behind it in a sentence, such as why an interpreter asks for clarification instead of guessing. Those rules are what carry over to new questions.

Spend extra time on ethics and standards of practice, since the same principles show up in questions on roles, legal issues and specialty settings. For terminology, keep a running list of body systems and common terms, and practise saying them in your working language, because the oral exam tests that directly.

Retake sets after a gap and see whether the rules stuck. Close to test day, check the official pages again for fees, format and your language's passing score, and do a timed run of mixed questions to get used to the pace.

Sources & last verified

1. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters — number of questions, time limit, passing score, retake policy (official source). “The written exam is a multiple choice, computerized exam containing 51 multiple-choice, single answer questions. The exam is only offered in English.” Verified Oct 22, 2026 · source checked Oct 20, 2026.
2. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters — passing score, exam fee, retake policy, score release (official source). “The passing scores for the oral exam for Cantonese, Korean, Russian and Spanish is 70%. The passing score for Mandarin is 80% and for Vietnamese…” Verified Oct 22, 2026 · source checked Oct 20, 2026.
3. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters — exam fee, validity, renewal (official source). “Register for the CMI Program: $40” Verified Oct 22, 2026 · source checked Oct 20, 2026.
4. prometric.com — delivery (official source). “NBCMI has partnered with Prometric to provide live remote proctoring exam sessions using Prometric’s ProProctor™ application.” Verified Oct 22, 2026.
5. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters — other (official source). “topic 1 roles of the medical interpreter” Verified Oct 24, 2026.

How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.