Clinical case studies

How the case practice works

Every case here is built the way the NCMHCE builds its cases. It opens with an intake summary, and a later session follows after some time in treatment. Each part is followed by multiple-choice questions about that point in the case, and every question belongs to one of the exam's domains. The library holds 22 cases, all written for this site in the exam's format.

Three ways to practice

• Daily case. The intake from one case, about ten minutes, with an explanation after every answer. There is a new case each day, and you can try it without signing in.
• Single cases. Work any case in the library at your own pace, with the explanation after each answer. Use these while the format is still new.
• Full timed exam. Eleven cases in 255 minutes, the length and pacing of the real exam. No feedback until the end, then a score by domain and a full review of every answer.

Reading a case

Read the intake once for the story and once for the evidence. Mark the timeline, because duration decides many diagnoses, and mark anything about risk or safety. Then read each question's stem before its options and name what it is asking for: an assessment step, a diagnosis, a treatment decision, an intervention or an ethical step. The How to read an NCMHCE case lesson teaches this method in full.

A worked example. An intake describes a client whose mood has been low on most days for three years, with a recent two-week stretch that is worse. Before you look at the options, note both time frames. A diagnosis question will turn on them, and a later treatment question will expect a plan that fits the diagnosis you chose. After you answer, read the explanation even when you were right. The results also show the keyed diagnosis for each case, so you can check your reading of the whole picture.

A sensible order: take the baseline case, read the six lessons, work the daily case and single cases in your weakest domains, and save the full timed exam until the format feels familiar. Review your misses with the NCMHCE flashcards. The cases and questions are practice material written in the exam's style; none comes from the actual exam. To read one full case with every explanation before you sign in, see the free sample case.