About the RCIS Core question bank
The Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist exam is a broad, integrative test. It rarely asks you to recite a single fact in isolation; it asks what you would do next with a patient on the table. This core bank is built the same way. Questions move between pre-procedure assessment, the mechanics of the lab, hemodynamic reasoning, and post-procedure care, so you practise switching context the way you have to during a real case.
Every question includes a full explanation of why the correct answer is correct — and, just as importantly, why the tempting distractor is wrong. That second half is where most of the learning happens. If you can articulate why the plausible wrong answer fails, you understand the concept rather than the question.
What this bank covers
- Cath-lab roles, workflow, and the scrub/circulator/monitor division of labour
- Sterile technique, draping, and infection control
- Vascular access — femoral vs radial, closure devices, and access-site complications
- Informed consent, time-outs, and pre-procedure patient assessment
- Equipment: manifolds, transducers, injectors, and the imaging chain
- Baseline hemodynamics and the normal values you are expected to know cold
- Recognising and escalating the deteriorating patient
- Documentation, QA, and professional standards
How to use it
- Work through the bank untimed first, reading every explanation, then repeat it in timed mode to test recall under pressure.
- When you miss a question, write down the underlying concept — not the answer. You will see the same concept dressed differently on the real exam.
- Use the core bank as a diagnostic: whichever domain you keep missing is the specialist bank you should drill next.
Frequently asked questions
Is the RCIS Core bank enough on its own?
No — treat it as your diagnostic and your review. It samples every domain, but the specialist banks (hemodynamics, calculations, pharmacology, ECG) go deeper. Use core to find your weak spots, then drill those banks.
How closely do these match the real RCIS exam?
The questions are written to the same domains and cognitive level as the CCI exam blueprint, but they are original questions — not recalled or copied exam items. The goal is to make you think like the exam, not to memorise it.
How many times should I repeat a bank?
Until you are getting roughly 85% or better and, more importantly, until you can explain each answer out loud without reading the explanation. Repetition without explanation just trains recognition of the question wording.