help!! disappointed with my pre-naplex score!

[pharmer7]

So I was planning on taking naplex in 2 weeks but looks like i might have to delay the testing date now. just took my prenaplex and got 57! ugh! i'm so frustrated! and scared.. I have already finished more than 60% of my rxprep book.

omg i'm freaking out. I don't know how else to study. thought i was doing well keeping up with my studying method but prenaplex score proved me otherwise.

Please help.. i'd appreciate any feedback on good studying tips for the naplex. I really want to keep the date i originally have set to take the exam. ugh.. feeling blue already

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[ADN1226]

2 weeks is plenty of time to finish up the book and focus on your weak areas. Remember that the prenaplex is only 50 questions with minimal math vs naplex is 150 questions with close to 30 math questions (for some people). If you're very good with pharmacy math then I wouldn't worry too much. Just be more focused, take some notes if that helps you memorize, practice the 120 SDN questions. I also purchased rx prep quiz bank which helped a lot, practicing questions helps me memorize the material.

Also, make sure you know statistics, I had 5-7 stats questions and they were easy points! Although prenaplex can be a good predictor of naplex scores, i've seen plenty of those that didn't do well on the prenaplex (which probably made them study harder), passed naplex with > 100 scores.

 

[fenil2005]

So I was planning on taking naplex in 2 weeks but looks like i might have to delay the testing date now. just took my prenaplex and got 57! ugh! i'm so frustrated! and scared.. I have already finished more than 60% of my rxprep book.

omg i'm freaking out. I don't know how else to study. thought i was doing well keeping up with my studying method but prenaplex score proved me otherwise.

Please help.. i'd appreciate any feedback on good studying tips for the naplex. I really want to keep the date i originally have set to take the exam. ugh.. feeling blue already

don't panic with that score(you have not finished the book yet. when you finish it you will get a better score than this)..relax and study hard for the next 2 weeks. you have enough time. just make sure you study wisely i.e don't get too much into details focus on drug tables, main SE, CI,dosage ranges, monitoring for main drugs(bold ones) such as phenytoin, methotrexate, biologics ect hopefully you got the idea, don't pay too much attention on disease, pathophysiology etc just read it. and make sure know you know the calculations well.

 

[pharmer7]

thanks guys. appreciate feedbacks!! that was helpful. i'm feeling a bit better now. i do have quizbank and i do study them daily but after few days i keep forgetting the things i studied!

 

[AmericanDesi]

thanks guys. appreciate feedbacks!! that was helpful. i'm feeling a bit better now. i do have quizbank and i do study them daily but after few days i keep forgetting the things i studied!

Yeah same here...repetition!!!

 

[pharmer7]

but time is too tight! what was your strategy in repetition?

 

[AmericanDesi]

but time is too tight! what was your strategy in repetition?

I jotted notes on chapters I felt weak in, just the side effects, lab values, BBW that stood out...so I'm just repeating that. I'm not sure where you struggled on the Pre-naplex, or where you think you might have...But first things first, on the profile look at the: age, allergies, and lab values. When you look at a drug, it should make you think of something.( the big se's or BBW) When I see clozaril I think ANC, or depakote I think Tcytopenia..stufflike that.

For every drug I try to remember a big side effect that stands out, or a counseling point.
I grouped everything so that I know which abx dont go in fridge, which meds to take in AM,which meds cause Tcytopenia...After you read a chapter, dont go to the next one till you mastered this. Go through the whole chapter in your head and ask yourself, What are the drugs, the mxms, the side effects, BBW? DONT look at your notes. If you can go through the whole thing in your head, you wont need to look back. Make a mnemonic for everything, thats what I did.

Lastly you can do Rxprep quizzes if you have time, or at least the q's in the back of chapter. Then you can see what parts you need to go back and focus on.

 

[pharmer7]

grrrreat advice! Thanks a bunch! Think I know how to approach it now. I see where I was studying wrong. I took notes for the whole chapter literally everything in the book just cuz I thought the book itself was a summary. Thought I shouldn't miss anything in the book. Only to forget everything after spending so much time memorizing! Btw what's mxms and BBW?

 

[AmericanDesi]

grrrreat advice! Thanks a bunch! Think I know how to approach it now. I see where I was studying wrong. I took notes for the whole chapter literally everything in the book just cuz I thought the book itself was a summary. Thought I shouldn't miss anything in the book. Only to forget everything after spending so much time memorizing! Btw what's mxms and BBW?

Oh sorry, I make up my own abbreviations too

Mxm-Mechanisms of action
BBW-Black box warning

When youre not studying, ask yourself random questions: What are the side effects of H2Ra's, Stimulants, etc...Then when you see it on the exam you'll be able to recall i t. Dont focus on everything, you cant possibly know everything and recall it. Focus on SIDE EFFECTS and the Drugs METABOLISM-are they substrates,inhibitors,inducers...That way you can catch Drug interactions when you see them..

 

[AmericanDesi]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=916540

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=553446

 

[ericsofunnixp]

you shouldn't be too worried about your pre-naplex score. I took my prenaplex after going studying for a good month and a half and ended up getting a 69... sat my actual naplex 3 weeks later after reading over big chapters like ID, HIV, Onco and just found out i passed with a score of 108!!

 

[pharmer7]

Good to hear. Congrats on passing NAPLEX. Thats encouraging. Thank u all for wonderful advices and encouragement. I'm off to b&n now to master this thang! Gracias and I'll besure to update u guys!

 

[Farmer83]

you shouldn't be too worried about your pre-naplex score. I took my prenaplex after going studying for a good month and a half and ended up getting a 69... sat my actual naplex 3 weeks later after reading over big chapters like ID, HIV, Onco and just found out i passed with a score of 108!!

Thank you so much for the encouragement.. I took the pre-naplex about two weeks ago and got a 63 after studying about 5 weeks. As a lot of people have recommended, I have studied calculations and pretty much have them down. I spent at least a day or two on HIV and ID, and I have yet to cover Onco. And my exam is this Thursday...

I'm a little nervous but I'm pretty scared and nervous about failing this exam...any additional words of encouragement would be appreciated!!!

 

[3boooda]

Thank you so much for the encouragement.. I took the pre-naplex about two weeks ago and got a 63 after studying about 5 weeks. As a lot of people have recommended, I have studied calculations and pretty much have them down. I spent at least a day or two on HIV and ID, and I have yet to cover Onco. And my exam is this Thursday...

I'm a little nervous but I'm pretty scared and nervous about failing this exam...any additional words of encouragement would be appreciated!!!

You will be fine. Just make sure to do fast review. And fpcus on calculations.

 

[Chris co2012]

Thank you so much for the encouragement.. I took the pre-naplex about two weeks ago and got a 63 after studying about 5 weeks. As a lot of people have recommended, I have studied calculations and pretty much have them down. I spent at least a day or two on HIV and ID, and I have yet to cover Onco. And my exam is this Thursday...

I'm a little nervous but I'm pretty scared and nervous about failing this exam...any additional words of encouragement would be appreciated!!!

Yeah, I have some words of encouragement. I'm a huge procrastinator, a slacker, and was always on the borderline C/D in school. I didn't take the preNAPLEX, so I can't compare to you. But I hardly studied for the NAPLEX other than making sure I knew my calculations. I didn't even study brand/generics other than what I had already known from working.

I got about a solid 4-5 days of studying down. I crammed like crazy. When I took the test, I didn't know crap. I could count on one hand how many questions I knew I got right (well, besides calculations... I knew those easily).

I got a 100.

I will say that I only studied the more exotic disease states and conditions. I didn't even look at CHF, HTN, DM, ID, etc. I only crammed over the weird stuff such as oncology, HIV, etc. I knew that the exam didn't focus on things such as knowing goal values for BP.

Oh and I got a LOT of anticoagulation questions.... a LOT of them. I wasn't prepared for that.