I've been compiling resources as I study for my AAT - Certified Animal-Assisted Therapy 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 AAT - Certified Animal-Assisted Therapy, AAVSB - American Association of Veterinary State Boards, and ALAT - Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician. Free.
- Official practice materials from the certifying body — usually 1 free sample exam, worth doing even though it's short
Study Materials:
- The official AAT exam handbook / candidate guide (PDF, free from the certifying body's website)
- YouTube — search for "AAT exam prep" — there are surprisingly good free video reviews for most animal care and veterinary 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 animal care and veterinary 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 animal care and veterinary exams? I'll add them to this list.
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.
For AAT - Certified Animal-Assisted Therapy 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 animal care and veterinary-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.
Quick update: just cleared 79% on my most recent AAT practice set using aat certified animal assisted therapy ethical principles in aat. Sitting for the real thing in 2 weeks. Feeling cautiously optimistic.
Great discussion. One thing nobody mentions: sleep the night before matters more than one more study session. Went in fully rested for my AAT and felt sharper than expected.
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