Hi guys, i was looking for material to prepare for the CPE exam and i found this forum. I am a graduate from Mexico but i've lived (and practiced vet med) in the US since 2003 (in a place where i don't need license). Nevertheless i want to have my license to be able to get another position if the opportunity comes up. I did not passed the NAVLE exam the 1st time for 5 points (pretty painful) so i decided to have a better strategy for my last attempt (last December); i passed with 100 points over the mark so it's possible. It takes time and discipline. Here is what i think is a good approach, may not work for everyone but it's a start:
1) Preparation notes from vet students in 4th year- i found this to be the key. I got them from my students that were sitting at the same time i was. The notes were comprehensive and with what you need. Contact (maybe trough this website) 4th year vet students in the U.S and ask them for NAVLE review notes. They have review classes and are the best. The A-Z review that is floating around is SO outdated that i did not find it useful.
2) Concentrate in dog, cat, horse and cattle medicine; if you don't have time for pigs and small ruminants, exotics, etc is OK. Everyone freaks out about pigs but in reallity if you cruise on the other topics even if you fail pigs, you are OK.
3) Use Merck or other good books (Kirk, Ettinger, Nelson) for big topics, do not rely on summaries, MOSBY, etc for that. Read them well (all the endocrine stuff in small animals, infectious in horses, etc).
4) Review topics using the UFLA videos (>20 videos), take notes of them and read them again before the exam. Do not use them as only source. They take time (videos are +/- 1hr or more) and if you write notes up to 3 hours but worth to write notes.
5) Sign in on Zuku.com review (free, and OK) or vetprep.com (not free but great) and practice after studying.
NOTE: You will not be able to pass studying only on Q&A books or websites, believe me.
I studied an average of 5hrs a day since July (after the WorldCup
) and took my exam on Dec 8th, so 5 months of hard work but it paid off.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL, and do not get discourage if you don't pass the first or 2nd time. IT IS DOABLE.
carsan98