5 Tips for passing naplex!

[RX100899]

Dear all,

I just passed my Naplex (scored a 121) and 3 Mpje (required by job, mail order pharmacy!!) feel I benefited ALOT from SDN posts and here are my tips that will hopefully help you pass your test stress free!

my stat: 3.2 GPA, avg student. total study time 1 month, pre-naplex without studying 69, 1 weeks before actual 91.

TIP 1: familiar yourself with the the format and find your weak spots
materials: pre-Naplex / rxprep 185 practice test
my first pre-naplex was 69 and rxprep practice test was at 50% and i knew i need to study since i had easy rotations p4 yr. realized i am weak at math, Cardio, ID and Oncology

TIP 2：master your math!!!
materials: SDN 120 Calculations / 5 Rxprep online math quiz
these SDN 120 questions will better prepared you for the math questions on the NAPLEX, and yes these are more complicated! not much to say besides these math are easy points and will carry you to the other side. but do know when to use which weight (IBW, TBW, AdjBW) if you picked the wrong weight, your answers will be wrong even if you know all the math. ex: which weight to use when med is the

TIP 3 : do flip through the entire rxprep book! BUT focus your study on the FIRST 24 chapters + your personal weak spots, if your have more time...know the most common disease states us pharmacists see.
materials: school notes/ rxprep book/Rxprep audio / all of the RX prep online questions
yes the exam can all over the place, but there are the MUST KNOWS and will FOR SURE to show up on your exam, these are the first 24 chapters; important chapters...... biostat, drug interaction, immunizations, compounding etc

TIP 4: know your brand/generic
materials: top 200 list/ rx prep drug indication quiz
after taking pre-naplex, I realized ALOT of naplex questions meds are given in brand name, I missed alot of questions simply because I don't even know what the drug is..... therefore i can't answer the S.E or MOA or indication...

TIP 5 : everyone CAN probably pass Naplex even without reviewing!!!!! after all, 4 years of pharmacy school is no joke and you made it this far, remember these late nights at the library? you got the knowledge you need to pass...............then why do people still fail?! I blame test anxiety! only do some light study the day before exam and get a sleep. start your test day with a nutritious breakfast, and once the test begin, clam down and tell you self " I got this ". please read the question first before reading through the entire long ass case. LASTLY, time check yourself, MAKE SURE you finish the entire test, if you have 1 min left and 10 more to go, put something, ANYTHING in. If you don't finish 162 questions you fail, and anywhere between 162-185 you will get a penalty!

I truly hope these can help you, and for these that have taken it and passed it, feel free to add more tips!

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[jinjin89108]

wow, great advice! how many math questions did you get on your exam? and other than rxprep did you use any other study materials? new rxprep book is close to $200, i bought a 2014 version and a McGraw Hill Naplex review 2nd edition. are these 2 enough?

 

[Cony]

wow, great advice! how many math questions did you get on your exam? and other than rxprep did you use any other study materials? new rxprep book is close to $200, i bought a 2014 version and a McGraw Hill Naplex review 2nd edition. are these 2 enough?

I don't think it's a good idea to usd rxprep 2014. New Naplex has more biostats, compounding and rxprep 2016 includes them. Study with rxprep 2016 will be the best.

 

[RX100899]

I agree with PharmMo, Naplex changed alot in 2015, the new version would be better; I had about 20 some math questions (including biostat). I did get alot of questions on Oncology & Immunization.

 

[sechkie]

Sounds like great advice, any tips on what kind of things can be tested on compounding? the RX Prep chapters are pretty short and I don't see how compounding could be tested.

 

[PharmerIsMe]

I took the naplex and failed. And I would not recommend rxprep as the only source of practicing calculations. I was getting all of them right, and in the test they killed me with the math. The wording and what they were asking was super confusing. I NEVER looked at the SDN calculations so I can not recommend. But certainly, I would like to practice questions more on the hospital side regarding TPN, rates and stuff like that...Any suggestions?

 

[NEUPharmD2016]

Sounds like great advice, any tips on what kind of things can be tested on compounding? the RX Prep chapters are pretty short and I don't see how compounding could be tested.[/QUOTE

They are short, so literally anything can be a question. Know all about HLB numbers, know what a surfactant is and what agents they are, know the terminology (ie, levigation, trituration, emulsion, etc.) and know the materials used like an ointment slab or that you wouldn't use a stainless steel spatula with compounds reacting w metal. Read these like 100 times. If anyone wants, I have my own post about my NAPLEX experience. I also have a 40 page summary of the first 24 chapters, feel free to message me for it!! GOOD LUCK

 

[NEUPharmD2016]

I took the naplex and failed. And I would not recommend rxprep as the only source of practicing calculations. I was getting all of them right, and in the test they killed me with the math. The wording and what they were asking was super confusing. I NEVER looked at the SDN calculations so I can not recommend. But certainly, I would like to practice questions more on the hospital side regarding TPN, rates and stuff like that...Any suggestions?

Did you take the pre-NAPLEX? I only studied RXPrep math, wasn't 100 percent great at it, but my NAPLEX was math was manageable, I only guessed on 1 lol

 

[PharmerIsMe]

Did you take the pre-NAPLEX? I only studied RXPrep math, wasn't 100 percent great at it, but my NAPLEX was math was manageable, I only guessed on 1 lol

Yeah I took the pre-NAPLEX, but I did not do well in it. The math portion I got in the test I am very confident it was very different from what many other students got. We talked about it in detailed after our tests...Also, thinking about the test, I believe the adaptive nature of it did not work well for me in the math part, the easiest math question I got was Cockcroft-Gault Equation finding the IBW from pt profile...That's it. And I spend too much time trying to solve a math problem, after another. And when I got to the questions that I actually studied well, I had like 40 questions left in 20 minutes...I just rushed over those. BAM! FAILURE!...

 

[david05]

Yeah I took the pre-NAPLEX, but I did not do well in it. The math portion I got in the test I am very confident it was very different from what many other students got. We talked about it in detailed after our tests...Also, thinking about the test, I believe the adaptive nature of it did not work well for me in the math part, the easiest math question I got was Cockcroft-Gault Equation finding the IBW from pt profile...That's it. And I spend too much time trying to solve a math problem, after another. And when I got to the questions that I actually studied well, I had like 40 questions left in 20 minutes...I just rushed over those. BAM! FAILURE!...

This is exactly happened to me! Spend too much time on questions that I didn't know, and at the end there were many easy compounding questions (topics that I knew by heart) that I did NOT have time to do them. Rushing, click-click, and not able to finish exams (6 unanswered questions).

My next strategy is to force myself to move forward on questions that I'm not sure or don't know. Even I spend more time on them, I STILL get them wrong. That's I used to get when I did my rxprep questions, and I didn't see that's the bad habit.

 

[PharmerIsMe]

I know it sucks. And what it sucks worse, is that I suspect they will throw at us in the new test maybe 100 math questions.
I believe it is expected to do one question (math or not math) every 1.44 minutes. If we take 3 minute per math question considering that we get thrown 100 math question, right there is 300 minutes, with only 60 minutes remaining to answer 150 (non math) questions, which translates to 0.4 min per question. That is just subscribing for failure in advance again. Or if we go to 2 min per math question. We would get to finish the remaining non math questions in 1.067 min per question.

Bottom line. Know how to calculate faaast, confident of the answer.
And memorize as much facts as possible so you can recall fast, and move forward, and possible gain some minutes in your favor.