How to Study Smarter for the ARRT Exam: Proven Techniques from Cognitive Science and Brain Training Experts

Forget Cramming. It's Time to Make It Stick.

If you're an x-ray student staring down the ARRT registry exam, there's one truth you need to hear: How you study is more important than how much you study.

You’ve made it through classroom lectures, late-night clinical shifts, and digital imaging labs—but passing the ARRT exam demands more than just reviewing notes or binge-watching review videos. You need efficient, brain-friendly strategies that actually help you retain information, apply it under pressure, and walk into the exam with confidence.

In this guide, we’ll dive into a smarter approach to learning—combining the best principles from Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning with brain optimization tips from learning coach Jim Kwik, author of Limitless. Whether you’ve got three months or three weeks left, these tools will help you retain more, stress less, and pass the registry on your first attempt.

1. Stop Re-reading. Start Retrieving.

The authors of Make It Stick argue that re-reading your textbook or notes is one of the least effective ways to study. It gives the illusion of mastery but doesn’t build the neural pathways you need when you're under pressure.

✅ Try This Instead:

Practice Retrieval

• After reading a section of your textbook, close it and write down everything you remember.

• Use flashcards (physical or digital) and quiz yourself daily.

• Simulate the real test: Take practice exams under timed conditions. Use questions from your school, registry prep apps, or join structured challenges like the 21 Day Registry Review Challenge.

💡 "Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Retrieval practice—recalling facts without cues—reinforces memory." – Make It Stick

2. Use Spaced Repetition (It’s Not Just a Buzzword)

Jim Kwik teaches: “Repetition is the mother of mastery—but spaced repetition is the mother of longevity.”

Spaced repetition means reviewing information at increasing intervals over time. Why? Because it works with your brain’s natural forgetting curve, helping you lock in information right before it slips away.

✅ Try This System:

The Leitner Method
Use flashcards divided into boxes:

• Box 1: Study every day

• Box 2: Study every 3 days

• Box 3: Study weekly
  If you get a card right, move it up. If you get it wrong, move it back. This targets your weakest areas while reducing wasted time.

Bonus: The 21 Day Registry Review Challenge is built around this. With 81 sessions taught by 43 instructors, following the ARRT outline, you’ll cycle through 2,000+ questions with instant feedback.

3. Train Like an Athlete Using the Pomodoro Technique

Your brain is not designed for marathon study sessions. You need short bursts of intense focus followed by brief recovery periods.

✅ Use the Pomodoro Method:

• Study for 25 minutes (no phone, no distractions)

• Take a 5-minute break

• After 4 rounds, take a longer 15-minute break

Jim Kwik calls this “study sprints”—and it’s how top performers maintain mental energy and focus. It also boosts dopamine, helping you stay motivated longer.

4. Mix It Up (Interleaving Practice)

Don’t study all positioning techniques today and all image production tomorrow. That feels easier, but it creates shallow learning.

✅ Instead:

Interleave your topics.
Mix patient care, physics, and positioning together in your study sessions. This forces your brain to adapt and recognize patterns, just like the ARRT exam requires.

This method feels harder—but it builds flexible, deep understanding, especially when it comes to troubleshooting image errors or recalling contraindications.

5. Make It Emotional and Visual

Jim Kwik emphasizes the importance of emotion and imagination in memory. The more vivid, funny, or outrageous the mental image, the better you remember it.

✅ Use These Tricks:

• Turn normal anatomy into memorable stories. (“The scaphoid scoops the peanut butter!”)

• Use mnemonics, mind maps, and mental palaces.

• Turn review sessions into games—try explaining the ALARA principle to a friend like you’re teaching it to a 5th grader.

Emotion fuels retention. That’s why the instructors in the 21 Day Challenge share real clinical stories, visual aids, and interactive Q&A to keep things sticky.

6. Sleep, Hydration, and Movement: The 3 Superpowers

Your brain is part of your body—and no study technique can compensate for a sluggish, dehydrated, sleep-deprived brain.

Jim Kwik’s Top Physical Tips:

• Sleep 7–9 hours – consolidation of memory happens during REM and deep sleep.

• Hydrate often – even 2% dehydration can impair memory and concentration.

• Move regularly – even short walks boost BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor), which supports learning.

Think of it this way: Every time you skip sleep, you’re wiping away part of what you studied.

7. Teaching = Mastery

You never really know something until you can teach it to someone else. This is one of the strongest insights from both Make It Stick and Jim Kwik.

✅ Take This Challenge:

• Pick one topic each day (e.g., fluoroscopy safety or image contrast).

• Teach it to a classmate, partner, or even your dog.

• No notes. Just you, your words, and your memory.

The act of retrieving, organizing, and delivering knowledge will reveal what you know and what you don’t—and make it all stick even deeper.

Your Next Step: Make This the Moment You Lock In Your Plan

The ARRT exam isn’t just a test—it’s the gatekeeper to your future as a radiologic technologist.

So don’t leave it to chance. Don’t waste your precious hours on methods that feel productive but lead nowhere. Choose science. Choose structure. Choose smart effort.

And if you're ready for the next level, join over 1,000 students already enrolled in the 21 Day Registry Review Challenge.

• Built on retrieval, spaced repetition, and expert instruction

• Based on the ARRT content outline

• 81 sessions, 43 instructors, over 2,000 quiz questions

• All online, all tracked, all designed to help you pass the registry—and never look back

Final Thought from Jim Kwik:

"Don’t say ‘I’m not smart.’ Say ‘I’m not trained—yet.’”

Train your brain. Sharpen your tools. And walk into that exam knowing you’re not just prepared—you’re ready to pass and live the Rad Tech Life.