BCPS Spring 2020 Exam

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pharmdtobe1989

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Has anyone started studying? if so what material are you using?
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I've loosely started to study. It's been a few years since taking any kind of big exam, so I'll need extra time to get back into the swing of studying. I plan on using the ACCP book, I've already started reading thru it. It is very thorough and the case questions are fantastic, explaining why the correct answer is correct and why the incorrect questions are incorrect, which I thoroughly appreciate! I will also likely use some lectures and the question Bank from High Yield Med Reviews bc I retain best by listening to material and I've had several friends recommend it.


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SCRph2014 said:
I've loosely started to study. It's been a few years since taking any kind of big exam, so I'll need extra time to get back into the swing of studying. I plan on using the ACCP book, I've already started reading thru it. It is very thorough and the case questions are fantastic, explaining why the correct answer is correct and why the incorrect questions are incorrect, which I thoroughly appreciate! I will also likely use some lectures and the question Bank from High Yield Med Reviews bc I retain best by listening to material and I've had several friends recommend it.


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Would you like to form a study group in March ?
 
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hey guys how is it looking? I failed in fall 2019 but totally stocked to take the exam since I have a better idea what was expected. I have spent jan 2020 focusing on biostats, oncology, HIV. I have these down for the most part. The rest should be just review.... im gonna pass y'all. I got 450 the first time with out touching these three areas, I think I will pass this time around.
 
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queensway said:
hey guys how is it looking? I failed in fall 2019 but totally stocked to take the exam since I have a better idea what was expected. I have spent jan 2020 focusing on biostats, oncology, HIV. I have these down for the most part. The rest should be just review.... im gonna pass y'all. I got 450 the first time with out touching these three areas, I think I will pass this time around.
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Any tips for 1st timer taking the test ?
 
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I work as a low level inpatient pharmacist, I studied what I could with Dr. Busti (High Yield Med Reviews). that review was wy too hard for me last year but I still scored 450/500 just off the content I understood from his lectures. The exam is pretty basic. Take a good course and learn as much as you can. I am going through Dr. Busti review again and plan to be able to get all biostat/ onc/HIV questions, the rest are pretty simple disease state questions, that require little thought.
 
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queensway said:
hey guys how is it looking? I failed in fall 2019 but totally stocked to take the exam since I have a better idea what was expected. I have spent jan 2020 focusing on biostats, oncology, HIV. I have these down for the most part. The rest should be just review.... im gonna pass y'all. I got 450 the first time with out touching these three areas, I think I will pass this time around.
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How long did it took you to study the first time ?
 
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The first time I studied with about 3 months of review. this time I started in Jan and plan to take it in April. So probably about the same timeline. I feel a lot better now, the exam was really simple, there were no tricks, you just gotta know your stuff
 
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queensway said:
The first time I studied with about 3 months of review. this time I started in Jan and plan to take it in April. So probably about the same timeline. I feel a lot better now, the exam was really simple, there were no tricks, you just gotta know your stuff
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Thank you ! Can I contact you outside of SDN forum ? Maybe study together ?
 
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queensway said:
The first time I studied with about 3 months of review. this time I started in Jan and plan to take it in April. So probably about the same timeline. I feel a lot better now, the exam was really simple, there were no tricks, you just gotta know your stuff
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I think it's pretty misleading to say that the BCPS exam is really simple--I passed in fall 2019 and I can openly say that it was neither straightforward nor simple. There were many complex questions with several possibly correct answers. You have to know your stuff to succeed. I encourage anyone new taking the exam to really focus in on biostatistics, major diseases states (diabetes, hypertension, asthma, infectious diseases topics), and regulatory items. In fact, a majority of my exam was regulatory-based, followed by biostats, with some sparse, overly difficult and random clinical questions thrown in. Solid knowledge in biostats and regulatory domains will get you farther than knowing random clinical topics here or there.

As for prep materials, ACCP is the most thorough. I saw identical questions from their 2019 practice exam they sell online on the actual test itself. They also sell flipcards that are incredibly helpful in preparing for the types of questions you will see.
 
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study hard, be responsible, do a thorough review. This exam is not that hard. There are thousands of pharmacists that are BCPS certified. It's not that bad but you have to do the hard work and follow a good review course.

"As of December 2018, there are more than 36,000 pharmacists who are board certified."--ACCP
 
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Quick question--I know everyone seems to suggest the ACCP material. I was wondering if I should purchase the full course (approx. $600) or the workbook alone? I'm leaning towards the workbook cause of the price lol, but just looking for some feedback. TIA!
 
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pharmacymonster said:
Quick question--I know everyone seems to suggest the ACCP material. I was wondering if I should purchase the full course (approx. $600) or the workbook alone? I'm leaning towards the workbook cause of the price lol, but just looking for some feedback. TIA!
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The 600 dollars package is worth it for me. The lectures help you focus on what you need to study. Otherwise, it would be cumbersome studying the whole package
 
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pharmdtobe1989 said:
The 600 dollars package is worth it for me. The lectures help you focus on what you need to study. Otherwise, it would be cumbersome studying the whole package
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Which package did you get? is it the one under CPE credit option on the ACCP website?

ACCP - Store

American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) - an international association of clinical pharmacists dedicated to optimizing drug therapy outcomes in patients by promoting excellence and innovation in clinical pharmacy practice, research, and education. ACCP information; membership application...
www.accp.com www.accp.com
 
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pharmagirl1986 said:
Which package did you get? is it the one under CPE credit option on the ACCP website?

ACCP - Store

American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) - an international association of clinical pharmacists dedicated to optimizing drug therapy outcomes in patients by promoting excellence and innovation in clinical pharmacy practice, research, and education. ACCP information; membership application...
www.accp.com www.accp.com
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Yep! But you’re sending me the link of Ambulatory Care Exam. This is BCPS topic
 
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I'm in for the study group, who has set anything up? Let me know! I have failed the test and will be retaking May 2020...
 
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Just took BCPS exam for the third time yesterday. first time scored 474, second time 484....only 16 points away! crossing fingers that I passed
 
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I hope you all did well on the Exam! I know mine was pushed back to next Saturday morning and I feel freaked out! I have not taken the BCPS exam before and and there is so much material so be tested on!
Any general advice about the exam you would possibly be willing to share?
How long did the exam take to complete? I know it is scheduled for 5.5 hours which seems like a long time to me.
 
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Chardog83 said:
Just took BCPS exam for the third time yesterday. first time scored 474, second time 484....only 16 points away! crossing fingers that I passed
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How was it this time? I took it in Fall 2019 and got 498, missed by 2 points! Anyone from the NY/NJ area and had to reschedule? I had to reschedule mine and it’s now on May 29 at a different testing site. I was wondering whether we have to wear masks while taking the exam.
 
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justtryingtopharm said:
I hope you all did well on the Exam! I know mine was pushed back to next Saturday morning and I feel freaked out! I have not taken the BCPS exam before and and there is so much material so be tested on!
Any general advice about the exam you would possibly be willing to share?
How long did the exam take to complete? I know it is scheduled for 5.5 hours which seems like a long time to me.
Click to expand...
Mine was pushed to may 29. I took it last time and got 498. I needed all that time and barely managed to finish it on time
 
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Vhadkar1 said:
How was it this time? I took it in Fall 2019 and got 498, missed by 2 points! Anyone from the NY/NJ area and had to reschedule? I had to reschedule mine and it’s now on May 29 at a different testing site. I was wondering whether we have to wear masks while taking
Vhadkar1 said:
How was it this time? I took it in Fall 2019 and got 498, missed by 2 points! Anyone from the NY/NJ area and had to reschedule? I had to reschedule mine and it’s now on May 29 at a different testing site. I was wondering whether we have to wear masks while taking the exam.
Click to expand...

Yes you do have to wear a mask during testing, but it wasn't a big deal. Not much similar questions from the previous two times I took the exam...I believe they have a big random pool of questions they pull from. I focused more on regulatory and stats this time with looking over main clinical like cardiology, diabetes, HIV, pulmonary, etc. my advise is know regulatory and stats good. Eric Christiansen has a regulatory review for $29.99 and a stats review too which helps
Click to expand...
 
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Thank you Chardog83, that is appreciated! I have gone through the BCPS bullets from Eric Chistiansen which had a few pages or regulatory and stats and have used what I have found in other areas (old biostats book from a local college and online resources). I think I am concerned that I have gone over a bit of material but there is always SO much more!
 
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justtryingtopharm said:
Thank you Chardog83, that is appreciated! I have gone through the BCPS bullets from Eric Chistiansen which had a few pages or regulatory and stats and have used what I have found in other areas (old biostats book from a local college and online resources). I think I am concerned that I have gone over a bit of material but there is always SO much more!
Click to expand...
Your welcome! Management is so hard to study for. Just go over all the questions in the ACCP book and make sure you know them well. I got Eric Christiansen’s review and made a binder (it’s about 30 pages long), and I added notes from the ACCP book and most questions at the end of the 4-5 regulatory/communications chapters into my binder. I think he just released his regulatory review like last year. But make sure you do not ONLY use this, but it’s great for knowing what to emphasize on your studying. I just hope I don’t have to take this exam a 4th freaking time ! And yes, I have BCPS bullets too, but didn’t use it that much
 
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justtryingtopharm said:
I hope you all did well on the Exam! I know mine was pushed back to next Saturday morning and I feel freaked out! I have not taken the BCPS exam before and and there is so much material so be tested on!
Any general advice about the exam you would possibly be willing to share?
How long did the exam take to complete? I know it is scheduled for 5.5 hours which seems like a long time to me.
Click to expand...
I thought it’s actually 4.5 hrs long? I started at 9am and was done around 130pm and took the full time
 
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Just a tip for anyone who still hasn't taken the exam yet...write down as many questions as you can remember after the exam (for yourself of course), and you will remember even more questions in the coming days after the exam. this will help tremendously in tailoring your studying in case you have to retake like me
 
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Chardog83 said:
Just a tip for anyone who still hasn't taken the exam yet...write down as many questions as you can remember after the exam (for yourself of course), and you will remember even more questions in the coming days after the exam. this will help tremendously in tailoring your studying in case you have to retake like me
Click to expand...

How did you feel about this past exam that you just took compared to the previous 2 ?
 
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queensway said:
I work as a low level inpatient pharmacist, I studied what I could with Dr. Busti (High Yield Med Reviews). that review was wy too hard for me last year but I still scored 450/500 just off the content I understood from his lectures. The exam is pretty basic. Take a good course and learn as much as you can. I am going through Dr. Busti review again and plan to be able to get all biostat/ onc/HIV questions, the rest are pretty simple disease state questions, that require little thought.
Click to expand...


did you use the quiz bank? Did you find the questions to be similar or helpful?
 
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