I've been compiling resources as I study for my ACC - Acupuncture Certification for Chiropractors certification and figured I'd share what I've found. All free unless noted.
Practice Tests:
- PracticeTestGeeks — most comprehensive collection I've found, good question explanations, covers ACC - Acupuncture Certification for Chiropractors, NCCAOM - National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Free.
- Official practice materials from the certifying body — usually 1 free sample exam, worth doing even though it's short
Study Materials:
- The official ACC exam handbook / candidate guide (PDF, free from the certifying body's website)
- YouTube — search for "ACC exam prep" — there are surprisingly good free video reviews for most alternative medicine certifications
- Reddit r/certifications — people post their exam experiences and tips regularly
Paid (worth it if budget allows):
- Official study guides run $30-80 for most alternative medicine certifications — worth it if your exam has lots of specific factual content
- Some certifying bodies offer prep courses — check if your employer covers it (many do for required certifications)
What resources have others found useful for alternative medicine exams? I'll add them to this list.
For ACC - Acupuncture Certification for Chiropractors specifically, I found the PracticeTestGeeks explanations were detailed enough that I didn't need to buy a separate study guide. The combination of doing the practice questions + reading every explanation (for both right and wrong answers) covered most of the content I needed.
Great list. I'd add: LinkedIn Learning has some alternative medicine-related courses that overlap with cert content, and if you have a library card many libraries give free access to it. Also check if your local library has access to O'Reilly or similar — tons of technical content there.
The official candidate guide is something a lot of people skip but it literally tells you the topic weighting and domain breakdown. It's the roadmap for your study plan. Never skip it.
Great discussion here. One thing I'd add that hasn't come up: sleep the night before is genuinely more important than one more study session. I went in fully rested for my ACC and felt sharper on the study guide questions than I expected. Don't underestimate recovery time.
Failed my first attempt, came back to this thread for motivation. The advice about really understanding why wrong answers are wrong — not just memorizing the right ones — is the single best piece of advice I've seen for the ACC. Rebuilding my prep around that principle now. Using acupuncture certification for chiropractors for the concept review.
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