The RHS (Radiation Health and Safety) exam is one of the three component exams of DANB's Certified Dental Assistant credential, and it's also taken on its own, because many states accept it toward radiography certification. It has no eligibility requirements; anyone can sit for it.
What's on it
DANB publishes the exam outline. The content falls into a handful of areas:
- Exposing and evaluating radiographs: technique (paralleling, bitewing, bisecting), errors and corrections, and recognizing a diagnostic image.
- Processing and handling: digital sensors and phosphor plates, and traditional film where it still appears.
- Mounting and labeling, and basic anatomic landmarks on the image.
- Radiation safety for patients and operators: ALARA, collimation, filtration, exposure factors, distance and position.
- Infection control specific to radiography: barriers, disinfection of sensors and holders, handling contaminated receptors.
- Regulations and quality assurance: who may expose radiographs, equipment checks, record keeping.
How to study
Learn the why behind each rule, not just the rule. Nearly every RHS question is a scenario: an image with an error, a patient with a condition, a setting that needs adjusting. If you understand what the beam is doing, the answer follows. Practice one question at a time, read why the wrong answers are wrong, and go back to anything you got right by luck.