of 5— Create a Study-Focused Chat

What you'll accomplish

By the end of this guide, you'll have Claude set up as a personalized CT exam study coach — generating unlimited practice questions, explaining concepts you're stuck on, and building custom study guides from your weakest topic areas.

What you'll need

Claude account at claude.ai (free tier works well for this use case)
Your ARRT CT exam content specifications (download free at arrt.org → Examination → CT category → Content Specifications)
A list of your weak topic areas (you'll identify these in Step 3)
Time needed: 30 minutes for setup; 20–30 minutes per study session
Cost: Free (Claude's free tier has sufficient capacity for daily study sessions)

How-To Guide: Build a CT Specialty Exam Study System with Claude

Step 1: Create a Study-Focused Chat

Go to claude.ai and sign in
Click "New Chat" in the left sidebar
Start with this framing message — copy and paste it:

Copy and paste this

I'm a radiologic technologist preparing for the ARRT CT specialty exam. I need you to be my study coach. You'll help me by: (1) generating practice questions on specific topics, (2) explaining concepts I don't understand, (3) identifying patterns in my weak areas, and (4) creating summary study guides. The exam covers: image production, image evaluation, patient care, safety, and procedures. Ready to start?

What you should see: Claude confirms the role and asks what you'd like to start with.