My Story

cappa412

New
Messages
1
Location
Tuckahoe, NY
Best answers
0
Predating my membership to AAPC, I tried as hard as I could in six different career paths. After so many dead ends, including an awful work injury, I took what was my last money in savings and purchased a CPC bundle that gave me the course, exam vouchers and Practicode. I devoted 2019 to completing the course, and passed my CPC exam as a CPC-A in December 2019. I worked diligently with Practicode when I could, and at my own pace, completing it earlier this month.

The subfield/specialty I have had the most trouble with is Evaluation and Management. Reviewing my exam score, it was the subfield that I scored lowest in. At the onset of Practicode, I was getting everything E/M related horribly wrong. Nevertheless, I kept at it with Practicode, getting better as time went on.

Upon completion of Practicode, I sent out a few applications. One that I heard back from sent me an E/M test chart to code. It turns out that I was one of few applicants who was able to code the test chart correctly. I have recently signed my first employment contract as a medical coder.

Please don't give up. Have faith in Practicode, take it seriously, keep up to date with guidelines, and don't take it to heart if there is a topic that you don't excel in; use it as motivation to press onwards. Let the specialty frustrate you in a good way, learn, and come out stronger at the end of it all. For what it's worth, work hard at removing that A, and make it mean something in doing so. I had to flip my sleep schedule so that I was up at night working on Practicode, studying, and taking care of my babies when they woke up, while my wife handled daytime, and we barely spent any time together. It turned out to be worth it all in the end.
 
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope it will be an inspiration to many coders trying to land that all-important first job.

You had a bit of a rough ride but you stuck to your guns and followed your instincts wisely; it truly has paid off for you. Let us know how the job goes.
 
Top