American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics

Exam Matrices

To begin your preparation in an informed and organized manner, you should know what to expect from the actual examination in terms of the content tested. The test matrices describe the content categories covered on the examination. The matrices can be used to get a general impression of the examination and, with closer inspection, can give you specific study direction. For example, by comparing the number of items in each category, you can determine the relative importance given to each category on the examination.

Content Area	Number of Items  **CHA Exam CHT Exam	Number of Items  CHS Exam
1. General Laboratory Skills and Specimen Requirements  Specimen Requirements Laboratory Safety Laboratory Maintenance	10	9
2. Reagent Preparation  Prepare Solutions, Stains, and Gradients Prepare Serological Reagents Prepare Reagents for Molecular Assays	15	16
3. Methodology  Cell and Serum Preparation Serological Assays Molecular Biology Assays	40	29
4. Test Results Interpretation  Serological Results Molecular Biology Assays Results Reporting	40	37
5. General Histocompatibility Testing Principles and Theory  Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Immunogenetics Molecular Genetics Basic Immunology and Serology	30	25
6. Quality Assurance  Reagents Instrumentation/Equipment Documentation Compliance	15	19
7. Supervisory Functions/Management (CHS only) Staffing Cost Management Laboratory Operations	N/A	15
TOTAL	150	150

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More detailed content outlines based on the job analysis outlining the specific tasks in Candidate Handbook (101KB, PDF)