How many weeks did you actually study for COE? Be honest

Same boat a few months ago. Here's what I'd tell myself:

The COE exam is more concept-focused than the study guides suggest. They test whether you understand COE, not just whether you can define it.

My tip: when you see a scenario question, mentally walk through it step by step before looking at the answers. The wrong answers are designed to catch people who jump to conclusions.

Good luck — the fact that you're doing this level of prep means you're going to be fine.

Same boat a few months ago. Here's what I'd tell myself:

The COE exam is more application-focused than the study guides suggest. They test whether you understand COE, not just whether you can define it.

My tip: when you see a scenario question, mentally walk through it step by step before looking at the answers. The wrong answers are designed to catch people who jump to conclusions.

Good luck — the fact that you're doing this level of prep means you're going to be fine.

The advice about understanding why wrong answers are wrong — not just memorizing right ones — is genuinely the best COE advice in this thread. Rebuilt my prep around that and it made a real difference.

Six weeks is honestly doable if you're consistent. I'm in a similar boat and just hit 78% on the coe strategic planning and leadership section after about three weeks of studying, which surprised me because that was my weakest area going in. I'm sitting for the real thing in two weeks and feeling cautiously okay about it.

The 1-2 hours a night thing actually works better than cramming on weekends if you stick to it. Don't stress too much about the three month advice, that's for people starting from zero. If you've got any background in ophthalmology practice management you're not starting from zero.

Honest answer: I failed my first attempt after studying for 8 weeks, so don't let anyone tell you it's just about time. What I got wrong was spending most of it on clinical stuff I already knew instead of the management and business side. The second time I zeroed in on the areas I was actually weak in, and coe strategic planning and leadership was a big one for me because I kept underestimating how much they test you on that.

Six weeks is enough if you're honest with yourself about where your gaps are. I'd say 1-2 hours a night is fine but make sure you're doing practice questions, not just reading. Reading feels productive but it isn't the same as actually being tested on the material. Good luck, you've got this.