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- Aug 28, 2014
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Reading so many of the stories on here really helped me cope with the extreme anxiety brought on by the NAPLEX so I thought that I'd share to help someone else. I took my exam a few days ago and like everyone said you will feel as if you failed. Before I share I'll brief run down of how I prepared. I used the APHA book (I know its huge and convoluted), RxPrep online questions (for like a month my access ran out before the CA BOP gave me my ATT like a month before smh), and I took the PreNAPLEX (twice). I started studying like early-Mid June, for about 4 weeks doing like 5-8 chapters a week some math top 200 nothing too heavy, then off and on till about 2 weeks before I took my exam which is when it got serious. I took the PreNAPLEX about a week and a half before my exam and then took It 2 days before to see if my score would go up, I passed it both times and my score went up 15 points the second time.
The NAPLEX: WOW! It's 185 questions not 150 like I thought (misinformation on my behalf). I got fatigued around question 85 but trucked along. The topics were all over the place like everyone said. I got the same question 3 times, not in succession, but throughout the exam like every 30 questions which threw me off. Some of the questions on there were single answer selection; however, there were definitely 2 answers on there that were right. I got home and looked them up afterwards just to make sure I wasn't going crazy and there were definitely 2 possible answers. I had 1 question on there about listing an order of how a technique or process goes. A few select all that apply questions.
Therapeutics: The topics were all over the place. I had about 4-5 HIV questions but they weren't in succession very spread out. I thought since this was an "adaptive exam" The questions would be grouped by topic, but I was wrong. What I did notice was that one for example a patient case problem, I'd be stuck on that same case for 8-10 questions if I got it right; however, they were not the same topic of questions. I.E. question one would be about an ACE inhibitor, next would be about their cancer drug, then about their lab results etc. The drug questions like" What is the generic for this" are not the obvious or common ones from the top 200. It was obscure drugs a few I'd never even heard of and I made a list going over about 315 brand/generics. I got several questions on metabolism. All the dosing questions were about drugs not on the top 200 or the additional 115 drugs list I made, and there weren't that many on though. I got several weird adverse effect questions that definitely were not the more common ones and I made sure I went over at least 5-6 for each drug and/or class. I had quite a few Contraindication questions and not the obvious or big no no one ones either. I got a lot of OTC questions like 8 and a few toxicology questions. Every test is different for each person but it was really random.
The math: I had a bout 30 math questions on there. A few CrCl, couple mEq, lot of compound questions like what is needed for this prescription type of stuff. They do provide lab value ranges and most of the equations; however, I had one question where it asked for an answer and it did no provide the equation! This threw me off as I could not remember it and got it wrong. The math is like 50/50 multiple choice and the other half is fill in, WATCH ROUNDING and UNITS.
My Advice: Pace yourself. There is 300 minutes to take the exam but somehow they count the time you signed in and the tutorial because when my exam started I had 3hours and 49 minutes only. I'd say a good pace is 1 question a minute at the least do 45 questions an hour so you aren't rushed at the end. Take the given break which is 2 hours into the exam and last 10 minutes. Take a few breaks along the way also, I only took one other to used the bathroom. I finished my exam in less than 3 hours but I take exams kinda quickly. I was very uneasy after the exam. I went over a lot of questions that I could remember to see if I got right and so far I'm getting more right than wrong, so I feel a little better.
For studying: My advice allot yourself 3-4 weeks to study. I'm the type of learner that needs more repetition as opposed to one in depth read, to get something down pack depending on what it is. I'd say do a couple chapters a day pace yourself don't cram it all at the end. Remember you went to school all this time to learn pharmacy so you know the stuff. Now I just hope I get my results in a reasonable fashion. CPJE in a week. I'm really hoping and praying that I pass.
The NAPLEX: WOW! It's 185 questions not 150 like I thought (misinformation on my behalf). I got fatigued around question 85 but trucked along. The topics were all over the place like everyone said. I got the same question 3 times, not in succession, but throughout the exam like every 30 questions which threw me off. Some of the questions on there were single answer selection; however, there were definitely 2 answers on there that were right. I got home and looked them up afterwards just to make sure I wasn't going crazy and there were definitely 2 possible answers. I had 1 question on there about listing an order of how a technique or process goes. A few select all that apply questions.
Therapeutics: The topics were all over the place. I had about 4-5 HIV questions but they weren't in succession very spread out. I thought since this was an "adaptive exam" The questions would be grouped by topic, but I was wrong. What I did notice was that one for example a patient case problem, I'd be stuck on that same case for 8-10 questions if I got it right; however, they were not the same topic of questions. I.E. question one would be about an ACE inhibitor, next would be about their cancer drug, then about their lab results etc. The drug questions like" What is the generic for this" are not the obvious or common ones from the top 200. It was obscure drugs a few I'd never even heard of and I made a list going over about 315 brand/generics. I got several questions on metabolism. All the dosing questions were about drugs not on the top 200 or the additional 115 drugs list I made, and there weren't that many on though. I got several weird adverse effect questions that definitely were not the more common ones and I made sure I went over at least 5-6 for each drug and/or class. I had quite a few Contraindication questions and not the obvious or big no no one ones either. I got a lot of OTC questions like 8 and a few toxicology questions. Every test is different for each person but it was really random.
The math: I had a bout 30 math questions on there. A few CrCl, couple mEq, lot of compound questions like what is needed for this prescription type of stuff. They do provide lab value ranges and most of the equations; however, I had one question where it asked for an answer and it did no provide the equation! This threw me off as I could not remember it and got it wrong. The math is like 50/50 multiple choice and the other half is fill in, WATCH ROUNDING and UNITS.
My Advice: Pace yourself. There is 300 minutes to take the exam but somehow they count the time you signed in and the tutorial because when my exam started I had 3hours and 49 minutes only. I'd say a good pace is 1 question a minute at the least do 45 questions an hour so you aren't rushed at the end. Take the given break which is 2 hours into the exam and last 10 minutes. Take a few breaks along the way also, I only took one other to used the bathroom. I finished my exam in less than 3 hours but I take exams kinda quickly. I was very uneasy after the exam. I went over a lot of questions that I could remember to see if I got right and so far I'm getting more right than wrong, so I feel a little better.
For studying: My advice allot yourself 3-4 weeks to study. I'm the type of learner that needs more repetition as opposed to one in depth read, to get something down pack depending on what it is. I'd say do a couple chapters a day pace yourself don't cram it all at the end. Remember you went to school all this time to learn pharmacy so you know the stuff. Now I just hope I get my results in a reasonable fashion. CPJE in a week. I'm really hoping and praying that I pass.
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