So many people say they pass the NAPLEX after studying for 2-3 weeks and I have no idea how

[CourtneySheldon]

So far I've passed 2 out of 3 board exams (MPJE and the practical examination that's required in Georgia), but I failed the NAPLEX. This was back in July and I can't retake it until mid-October when the 90 day wait period is over.

I studied seriously for about 3 weeks before I took it the first time, right after taking the MPJE, and everybody I talked to who'd taken it said they studied for about 2-3 weeks, maybe a month tops.

I've been studying nonstop since I failed in July and I still feel like there's so much more I need to do to prepare. I've been using RxPrep and the accompanying test bank, but even with that the amount of material feels staggering. Even if I can get through all the material, actually committing it to long-term memory is another feat entirely. I feel like in order to go through everything and learn it to the point that I can recall it quickly during the test, I'd need months and months to study. 2-3 weeks seems impossible.

Are other people just aware of something I'm not? Or is it just that they retained so much more than I did throughout pharmacy school? I wasn't a great student but I worked hard and made it through. Now I'm feeling very overwhelmed and unconfident in my ability to pass the NAPLEX. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[david05]

So far I've passed 2 out of 3 board exams (MPJE and the practical examination that's required in Georgia), but I failed the NAPLEX. This was back in July and I can't retake it until mid-October when the 90 day wait period is over.

I studied seriously for about 3 weeks before I took it the first time, right after taking the MPJE, and everybody I talked to who'd taken it said they studied for about 2-3 weeks, maybe a month tops.

I've been studying nonstop since I failed in July and I still feel like there's so much more I need to do to prepare. I've been using RxPrep and the accompanying test bank, but even with that the amount of material feels staggering. Even if I can get through all the material, actually committing it to long-term memory is another feat entirely. I feel like in order to go through everything and learn it to the point that I can recall it quickly during the test, I'd need months and months to study. 2-3 weeks seems impossible.

Are other people just aware of something I'm not? Or is it just that they retained so much more than I did throughout pharmacy school? I wasn't a great student but I worked hard and made it through. Now I'm feeling very overwhelmed and unconfident in my ability to pass the NAPLEX. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I felt the same way. How did they do it in 2-3 weeks? I failed my first time of NAPLEX, and waiting for the second. Looking back, I should have passed if I "knew how to tackle the exam." I don't know about others' version, but mine was very hard. ~ 80% questions of my exam were attached to cases. I felt exhausted until the last 5 minutes when I had 20 straight questions that were not attached to cases. I knew how to answer them, but did not have time to think. Just click and click, still had 7 unanswered and got 72. If I managed my exam at the beginning, I would have passed.

I don't know if you had problem with time, but we need to train us how to take the exam. If you have to think about answers, then we don't have enough time.

 

[CourtneySheldon]

I felt the same way. How did they do it in 2-3 weeks? I failed my first time of NAPLEX, and waiting for the second. Looking back, I should have passed if I "knew how to tackle the exam." I don't know about others' version, but mine was very hard. ~ 80% questions of my exam were attached to cases. I felt exhausted until the last 5 minutes when I had 20 straight questions that were not attached to cases. I knew how to answer them, but did not have time to think. Just click and click, still had 7 unanswered and got 72. If I managed my exam at the beginning, I would have passed.

I don't know if you had problem with time, but we need to train us how to take the exam. If you have to think about answers, then we don't have enough time.

Time did feel like an issue and I was rushing near the end, but I did manage to answer all the questions (I got a 68). I took too much time to try and recall answers that I didn't know, which is why I'm trying to study everything really well this time, but there's so much material that I don't know how people do it in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[deleted573604]

A lot of it has to do with knowing how to take standardized tests as well: eliminating answers, not overthinking a question, etc. About a quarter or midway through the test, look at the clock and see how much time you have left. If you are really behind, then don't think too hard about multiple choice questions that you don't know. Pick one and move on because you will definitely get questions later on that you can figure out (like math or easy case questions). Don't leave any questions unanswered; I have heard that it's really difficult (although not impossible) to get a passing grade if you don't finish the exam.

Naplex asks a lot of random questions so you will never be 100% prepared for it, but definitely have your math and biostats down. Also, I have seen that some people, including me, have had a lot of questions on special topics (HIV, oncology, ID) so you might want to brush up on those areas. For HIV, know the first line, combination medications and their brand names. For oncology, focus on major class side effects and know specific drugs that have weird/interesting side effects.

I also had a lot of cases too and you just want to make sure to always read the questions first. Most of the time, you don't need much information from the actual case. Also, read the allergies since that will help you narrow down therapeutic choices.

Study hard and you should be able to pass the Naplex, good luck to you both!

 

[chaosrxn]

So far I've passed 2 out of 3 board exams (MPJE and the practical examination that's required in Georgia), but I failed the NAPLEX. This was back in July and I can't retake it until mid-October when the 90 day wait period is over.

I studied seriously for about 3 weeks before I took it the first time, right after taking the MPJE, and everybody I talked to who'd taken it said they studied for about 2-3 weeks, maybe a month tops.

I've been studying nonstop since I failed in July and I still feel like there's so much more I need to do to prepare. I've been using RxPrep and the accompanying test bank, but even with that the amount of material feels staggering. Even if I can get through all the material, actually committing it to long-term memory is another feat entirely. I feel like in order to go through everything and learn it to the point that I can recall it quickly during the test, I'd need months and months to study. 2-3 weeks seems impossible.

Are other people just aware of something I'm not? Or is it just that they retained so much more than I did throughout pharmacy school? I wasn't a great student but I worked hard and made it through. Now I'm feeling very overwhelmed and unconfident in my ability to pass the NAPLEX. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Studying 2 or 3 weeks for the NAPLEX is nonsense. Even if you were a top notch student, why risk such a major exam in your career?

I started studying for the NAPLEX starting 6-7 months in advance. While on rotations I would read disease state review articles and take notes like I was studying for the first time. COPD GOLD, JNC 8, ARIA, etc. Covered all the basic stuff before graduation at an easy pace. Then with RxPrep I mapped out the chapters in the order I wanted to cover them. Did the hard stuff first (infectious disease, oncology, etc.), then beasted through for about a month and half.

Set yourself up for a good pace, and retake the test when you feel you will be ready, not nessesarily as soon as you can. Remember "S.M.A.R.T. Goals"


Get yourself a nice 5*Star Notebook, some pens, and take your notes by hand.

Start like I did with the main disease states. Review major guidelines, know how disease states are treated, how to escalate and de-escalate therapy. Know your drugs, brand and generic, side effects and contraindications, (don't worry too much about memorizing doses for the NAPLEX), which drugs within a class have benefit over others, lab monitoring, etc.
Read through the major guidelines and review articles and paraphrase them.
Write down the drug names, brand and generic.
I can't stress how important it is to take pen to paper.

Majorly important, be very strong in math and biostatistics.
Take a few days to master all the math subjects. Then the day before the exam, review math only. Math is 33% of the exam.

PM me and I can send you some of my major notes.

 

[chaosrxn]

And oh yeah, forgot to say.
If you are feeling overwhelmed now, that's okay, it's normal. I felt the same way when I failed the MPJE.

Take a deep breath...
Like right now, literally, I mean it, take a deep breath right now.


Make sure while you are studying you have some relaxed time. Also make sure you are eating well and exercising.

Go for a jog in the morning, eat your vegetables, drink your milk, and keep your thoughts positive.

You got this. Don't get so bogged down, the NAPLEX is a tough test, but you can do it. It's time to buckle down and make this final hurdle.

You will be successful.

 

[useruseruser]

did you take the pre-naplex before your exam? i felt like the pre-naplex helped me understand what kind of questions to expect and the areas I am weak and need to review more. I took it 1 week before my exam date.

Here's some tips that may help you. I was unable to go over all of the RxPrep book before my exam but was able to comfortably pass the NAPLEX after 3-4 weeks of studying.
- Make an equation sheet for math (including biostats and PK). include notes/tables if helpful too (e.g. conversion table, lipid, dextrose stuff, etc). this will help you to quickly recall/look up stuff
- Understand your biostats. These questions are straightforward and shouldn't take long to answer. I don't think RxPrep does a good job telling you how to interpret biostats info tbh. You should know what CI's and p-values mean. E.g. Drug A was found to reduce the incidence of heart attacks. Is this a claim the researchers can make if the p-value < 0.05? What if p > 0.05? What if the CI crosses 1 or 0?
- Memorize brand/generic names in the back of the book. You shouldn't miss easy questions about a drug just because you can't recognize the drug name.
- Memorize the drugs in the first table on 219-220 from calcium to SCr. Knowing quickly which drugs increase/decrease which electrolyte or messes up your renal function will be helpful when interpreting a case
- Memorize your drug interaction chapter (e.g. what OTC stuff increases risk of bleeding?), and drug allergy chapter (e.g. what drugs should be avoided with a sulfa allergy?)
- Know your Infectious Disease chapters, HIV chapter, and oncology chapter. The bolded/underlined stuff should generally be sufficient. For the ID chapters, think about therapeutic antibiotic options if a patient has a drug allergy to the first line drug. What's a backup option? A good table is the one on pg 379. E.g. pseudomonas infection but allergy to FQ, what can you use? For HIV, make sure to know brands/generics and the key features boxes for each class. For oncology, know how to calculate BSA, side effects of drugs, and how to manage side effects.

When I study, I can have a hard time recalling information about an individual drug. So sometimes, it helps for me to make a list instead. Like instead of knowing the in's and out's of each drug in a chapter, I'd just make a list of drugs that cause neuropathy.. drugs that need to be taken with food.. drugs that should be avoided in pregnancy.. etc. It just helps me remember when the information is presented differently.

It's going to seem like an endless stream of information when you go over the book but you can't memorize everything. However, you should still be capable of memorizing a lot. And knowing the core stuff in the first few chapters (laboratory monitoring, drug interaction stuff, etc) will probably be really helpful when it comes to cases.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[KoreanPharmacist]

It shouldn't matter how long others studied. How can you trust what they say unless you were with them while they were studying? Most people I spoke to said they studied 2-3 months but then it's all relative to your studying habits and how you learn. I studied TX MPJE for 3 days and passed. I was thinking since everyone said MPJE is the hard one, I shouldn't have any problem passing NAPLEX with very minimal studying... nope. I studied for 2 weeks. Failed. And it wasn't even close. I failed by a landslide, which tells me that I was lacking immensely in my knowledge. I felt it too while I was taking the exam. Very simple brand names I recognized yet couldn't pinpoint exactly. Lab values such as trough and peak levels I should've known, first line treatments etc... all would've been easy answers had I spent enough time studying.

As I "re-study", I realized I studied all the wrong materials before. Listening to rxprep online lectures is an eye opening experience for me right now. For those who's struggling with their study, I suggest getting the online lectures. I know it's expensive but it's super helpful. I'm making notecards for brand/genetics. Using bigger notecards to summarize each chapter after I listen to the online lectures while read along and highlight/take notes. It's taking a long time to go over one chapter but information is sticking for sure.

I should've done this starting June... i would've been licensed by now... good luck everyone.

 

[flowergirl101]

Studying 2 or 3 weeks for the NAPLEX is nonsense. Even if you were a top notch student, why risk such a major exam in your career?

I started studying for the NAPLEX starting 6-7 months in advance. While on rotations I would read disease state review articles and take notes like I was studying for the first time. COPD GOLD, JNC 8, ARIA, etc. Covered all the basic stuff before graduation at an easy pace. Then with RxPrep I mapped out the chapters in the order I wanted to cover them. Did the hard stuff first (infectious disease, oncology, etc.), then beasted through for about a month and half.

Set yourself up for a good pace, and retake the test when you feel you will be ready, not nessesarily as soon as you can. Remember "S.M.A.R.T. Goals"


Get yourself a nice 5*Star Notebook, some pens, and take your notes by hand.

Start like I did with the main disease states. Review major guidelines, know how disease states are treated, how to escalate and de-escalate therapy. Know your drugs, brand and generic, side effects and contraindications, (don't worry too much about memorizing doses for the NAPLEX), which drugs within a class have benefit over others, lab monitoring, etc.
Read through the major guidelines and review articles and paraphrase them.
Write down the drug names, brand and generic.
I can't stress how important it is to take pen to paper.

Majorly important, be very strong in math and biostatistics.
Take a few days to master all the math subjects. Then the day before the exam, review math only. Math is 33% of the exam.

PM me and I can send you some of my major notes.

hello can u pls send me ur notes, thank u. [email protected]

 

[Twentytwelve2]

Studying over the course of anything over 1 month is excessive and is less effective. I just spend 4 weeks studying for 5-10 hours a day. That way the material stays fresh. It is important to use video lectures plus the book because you will be able to recall information from 2 different sources, which makes u remember information better.

Making ur own notes is a waste of time because by the time u finish writing notes, u wasted so much study potential.

scored >120 on NAPLEX by just watching videos + book