Visual Veggies Software- RD Exam Prep program review

Recently I was lucky enough to be chosen to review an amazing exam prep program by Visual Veggies Software. This software was created BY a Registered Dietitian who has taken and passed the RD exam. After spending the past few weeks completing practice exams and playing word games it is very evident that the creator of the software is an expert on the concepts that we are expected to master in order to obtain our credentials of RD or DTR.

The first part of the program is an intensive practice exam software which has been flawlessly organized into domains and categories, the domains are the major components of the RD exam and the categories are more focused topics. As you log in for the first time you are prompted to take a pretest to get a gauge of your starting score.

As you can see I have a little bit of improving to do on my whopping pretest score of 65%.....

After you complete your pretest you are given a breakdown of your scoring. I love this feature because as we know...the numbers don't lie. Looking at this spreadsheet you know exactly what areas you need to work on and you can go directly to those sub categories and continue quizzing yourself. Being able to narrow down your focus and spend more time on your weak spots is one of the most unique features I have ever seen when taking practice exams. What you usually end up doing when taking practice exams is falling back on the questions you do know because...well...it is more fun to get answers right! But with this feature you are faced with the proof that you have a certain area you need to work on. What is also really nice is that as you work on those weak spots you aren't just blindly guessing, hoping to understand the concept eventually. You are actually presented with an explanation of the topic at the bottom of the screen so you can learn the right answer and apply the knowledge for the next question on that topic. As you complete more and more practice tests you can watch your progress scores improve, now THAT is fun!

Along with the practice exam software was the "Hanging with Nutrition" program. It is a hangman-style game that helps familiarize you with vocabulary that you should expect to see on the exam. The game offers a clue and then you guess the word or phrase letter by letter. The cool thing about this is that once you solve the puzzle there is a detailed description on the topic. There is also a field where you can save your own personal notes.
 


We are talking almost 600 words or phrases in this software. That is a lot of hangman! Vocabulary is SO essential for passing standardized exams like the RD exam. Having a fun way to familiarize yourself with the wide range of terms that may come up is so helpful. Not to mention such a creative way to practice rather than boring old flashcards!

So now like I said...the proof is in the numbers! After spending a few days quizzing myself and working through questions I didn't know the answers to I have raised my test score to 72%. Granted that is not considered a passing score on the actual exam, but it is almost a 10% increase in just a few weeks. I am not mad about that one bit! In fact, knowing that I have this software to utilize as I get closer to taking my RD exam is extremely comforting. I am confident that with my education, my internship experiences, and this software I am going to conquer the RD exam come September!

If anyone has any questions about the software please feel free to ask. I am more than happy to brag about how awesome I think it is if you are interested in learning more about it.

Good luck to all my fellow future RDs!

More info can be found on the Visual Veggies website Visualveggies.com.