I passed 2016 NAPLEX

[pizza99]

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Hello,

Today I found out that I passed the NAPLEX! I took it the first week of February so just a little over 2 weeks ago and I passed by a very nice margin. My study materials were: 2015 RX Prep along with RX Prep test bank and their lectures. RX Prep is ALL YOU NEED. It is crazy how everything in that book is on the exam. Forget that APHA book as it is stuffed with unnecessary details. A little bit of background - my rotations during P4 year were drug information, oncology, cardiology, psychiatry, hospital, acute care, ambulatory care, and retail. Most of my rotations were very hard (lots of all-nighters). I also worked as a hospital intern for three years. I was a B student throughout pharmacy school.
I studied for three weeks with the last week being the most intense. I only went through RX Prep once (barely). My aunt also passed away during those three weeks so I had to delay my exam by a week because no time to study. I strongly suggest buying the new 2016 version of RX Prep if you don't already have one. However, if you are using the 2015 version like me you will be fine as long as you are confident in your knowledge of disease states and math. But if you are always on the struggle bus then definitely get the new version. The new book focuses more on compounding than the previous version and there were some compounding questions on the exam that I had no idea how to figure out and others I only knew because I worked in a hospital. I was scoring 50s-80% on the RX Prep test bank questions. I strongly suggest doing those as they are very similar question format to the NAPLEX and the explanations at the bottom are helpful. Scoring in the 60-70% is more than enough! I was questioning whether to get the lectures but THANK GOD I DID - it was so much easier to learn the material by watching the lectures (esp listening to Shapiro). They provide you mnemonics and other ways to easily remember things. They also point out whats important for the NAPLEX.
The exam topics were ALL over the place. Antibiotics, psychiatry, cancer, OTC, HLD, HTN, anticoag, birth control, sterile compounding, HIV, gout, ADHD, diabetes, hep C, osteoporosis, herbals, dosing of some not so popular drugs (wth!?), alternative therapies, preservatives, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, lots of math and TPN, counseling points, also lots of BIOSTATS!! KNOW YOUR BRAND GENERIC. I definitely got screwed on that because I had quite a few brand name drugs that were not top 200! I don't think I did well on the math portion. The very first question was math and I was so nervous in the beginning I couldn't figure it out so I skipped it :/ not a good start BUT DO NOT LET A HARD QUESTION DISCOURAGE YOU! I am very comfortable with clinical stuff so I know I got all the HIV, cancer, psych questions correct because I only got a few. There are quite a few select all that apply. I was worried about time in the beginning but it was fine. Just make sure you don't spend TOO much time on a math question - if you can't figure it out after a minute then SKIP IT! I finished the exam with thirty minutes left.
You really need to know how to look at a complete patient profile. The questions are all case based. HLD, HTN, and diabetes problems are incorporated in almost every case even if the questions isn't directly asking about them so know those disease states well. The first half of the exam was easy I thought and then it got harder and I was guessing a lot more. My friend said that if you are doing well then they will throw harder questions at you? Well either way I passed so I am happy!
Study hard. Some questions are very easy, others you have to figure out, and some are just out of the blue and hopefully your work experience will guide you through. Definitely know your math and TPN stuff because those should be easy points. My friend said that this years test was much harder than last years. Like I said, STUDY HARD and you will be fine! I could not sleep the night before the exam - I woke up very groggy but drank a good strong cup of coffee and I persisted through. Have a good meal before to provide you energy. It is a LONG exam - by the time I got to the last 4 questions I think I started guessing because I was so tired. I can't believe they are trying to add even more questions. Good luck to everyone! Now on to the CPJE :/

 

[aestheticsmatter]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience. I am taking the Naplex next week and am FREAKING OUT. I was relieved to hear that you think that scoring 70% -ish on the test bank would suffice, since that is what I'm averaging. I'm studying from the 2015 book and didn't buy the video lectures since i didn't think I would have enough time to use them.

I was wondering if you could briefly comment on the number and types of math questions you had... Are the Rxprep quizzes on calculations and biostats enough or should I review another source? Would you recommend taking the Pre-Naplex?

Also, if you are willing, may I ask what was your score for the Naplex?

Thank you very much!

 

[aestheticsmatter]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience. I am taking the Naplex next week and am FREAKING OUT. I was relieved to hear that you think that scoring 70% -ish on the test bank would suffice, since that is what I'm averaging. I'm studying from the 2015 book and didn't buy the video lectures since i didn't think I would have enough time to use them.

I was wondering if you could briefly comment on the number and types of math questions you had... Are the Rxprep quizzes on calculations and biostats enough or should I review another source? Would you recommend taking the Pre-Naplex?

Also, if you are willing, may I ask what was your score for the Naplex?

Thank you very much!

-- I don't know if I will be able to completely get thru the Rxprep book entirely -- right now, I'm trying to skim thru each chapter, write a short summary of it, and then take the rxprep quiz for the chapter... I can recall some of the major points for bit, and then it tends to get mixed up after cramming more and more chapters.. Any advise or guidance would be appreciated.. Thanks!

 

[pizza99]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience. I am taking the Naplex next week and am FREAKING OUT. I was relieved to hear that you think that scoring 70% -ish on the test bank would suffice, since that is what I'm averaging. I'm studying from the 2015 book and didn't buy the video lectures since i didn't think I would have enough time to use them.

I was wondering if you could briefly comment on the number and types of math questions you had... Are the Rxprep quizzes on calculations and biostats enough or should I review another source? Would you recommend taking the Pre-Naplex?

Also, if you are willing, may I ask what was your score for the Naplex?

Thank you very much!

My score was 95. I was a little worried after I took the exam though because like I said the last half did not go so well. I also didn't think I was prepared as much as my other colleagues who were also taking the test. My friends had gone through RX Prep 4-5 times and scored well into the triple digits but I just did not have the time to do that and I did rely a lot on the fact that I had tough rotations and worked in a hospital for three years. Lets just say I barely got through all the material lol. Also, as for the lectures on RX Prep - I only used them for the smaller disease states as it was quicker and easier to just get to the gist of what they want. However, if you actually read through RX Prep for those smaller disease states then you will be fine - I didn't have the time to do that so I used the lectures to give me a good summary.
As for math, I had lots of TPN questions, drip rates and one PK question - very straight forward - practice practice practice because nerves can get the best of you when you are doing math! RX Prep book was sufficient for me for math - I did not do the RX Prep test bank math questions OR the SDN 120 questions but I would recommend it to give you a confidence booster. I definitely skipped a few math questions on the exam and I am sure I would have scored higher if I practiced more math. I tended to focus more on all the disease states when I was studying and did math for the last two days before the exam. None of the math questions were super tricky - if you practice then you will know exactly how to do them. As for the number of math questions = I would say about 10-15 questions.
RX Prep test questions for biostats was MORE than enough - make sure you do them! This will definitely help and they are easy points on the exam.
As for the Pre-Naplex - my school REQUIRED us to take it in order to graduate lol - we had to pass with a score of 75 or greater and I scored an 87 with studying the night before- but this was during our last month of P3 year where information was very fresh. I took that Pre Naplex almost over a year ago - I don't think it did any good lol so if you are debating whether to take it or not - meh I would skip it - but if you are extremely worried and are a horrible test taker then go for it because it can be good practice. However, the Pre-Naplex questions are way harder than the actual NAPLEX.
Also, if you work in a pharmacy it will definitely be a big help - whether its retail or hospital - it will give you the edge on answering some questions. Good luck!

 

[pizza99]

-- I don't know if I will be able to completely get thru the Rxprep book entirely -- right now, I'm trying to skim thru each chapter, write a short summary of it, and then take the rxprep quiz for the chapter... I can recall some of the major points for bit, and then it tends to get mixed up after cramming more and more chapters.. Any advise or guidance would be appreciated.. Thanks!

Questions are usually general - but make sure you know the details on the major disease states such as HLD, HTN, diabetes and antibiotics as these are VERY important. These diseases are ones that pharmacists are responsible for managing in outpatient settings so they want us to know that stuff very well. You can get away with skimming the rest of the stuff but make sure you know those. Knowing first line antibiotics and their counseling points is another major role of the pharmacist in any setting. I swear my exam covered almost every single disease state - there were some things where I had no clue and I kept getting more questions on it. I wanted lots of HIV and onco questions but only got a few. I tend to do better on the difficult topics and struggle on the easy stuff (I'm weird like that). If you are going to skim through things then make sure you are at least confident on math and biostats as these two topics can provide you with easy points on the exam and will give you room to mess up on the other stuff.
Also, go over brand/generic for the top 200. I had some non top 200 brand name drugs but I'm pretty sure they threw those questions out lol. I definitely think I was in your same shoes where I felt like I didn't have enough time to get through all of RX Prep - and I didn't - I went through MOST of the chapters but some got left behind - however I did briefly skim through those left behind chapters just to get an idea. If you don't have enough time to go over a chapter then just skim through it and at least try to remember the underlined stuff. Also, make sure you keep reviewing the stuff you already studied. Each day I would go over my the index cards I had made for diabetes, HIV, HLD, Antibiotics just to make sure it was embedded in my brain. Repetition is key. Good luck!

 

[pizza99]

Also, when you guys are studying just stop and think "would this be important for a pharmacist to know?"
The point of the exam is to make sure us pharmacists don't kill any of our patients - so if there is some major warning on a drug then you should probably know it, if there is a major interaction with another drug then you should also probably know it. What drugs do pharmacists counsel on the most? What side effects do we deal with the most? Safety is a big thing that they focus on so keep that in mind when you are studying. Keep in mind whether or not this information is the role of a pharmacist. When you are learning about a drug, what things is the pharmacist responsible for knowing and counseling the patient?

 

[aestheticsmatter]

Questions are usually general - but make sure you know the details on the major disease states such as HLD, HTN, diabetes and antibiotics as these are VERY important. These diseases are ones that pharmacists are responsible for managing in outpatient settings so they want us to know that stuff very well. You can get away with skimming the rest of the stuff but make sure you know those. Knowing first line antibiotics and their counseling points is another major role of the pharmacist in any setting. I swear my exam covered almost every single disease state - there were some things where I had no clue and I kept getting more questions on it. I wanted lots of HIV and onco questions but only got a few. I tend to do better on the difficult topics and struggle on the easy stuff (I'm weird like that). If you are going to skim through things then make sure you are at least confident on math and biostats as these two topics can provide you with easy points on the exam and will give you room to mess up on the other stuff.
Also, go over brand/generic for the top 200. I had some non top 200 brand name drugs but I'm pretty sure they threw those questions out lol. Good luck!

Thanks!! I fairly decent with math so I'm hoping for a lot of calculations... I have worked in retail for a while so I'm familiar with somethings. I'm extremely nervous, (esp. since my job offer hangs on me passing) and am hoping to do well, but will settle for just passing at this point.

I'm trying summarize the main point of the chapters in 1 page per chapter, since I know it is unlikely that I will recall any more than that much info...

May I ask, did you get a lot of ID? Did you often have to distinguish between first and second line treatments?

A lot of people have commented that the patient cases are "polypharmacy", as in they involved more than 1 disease state per question -- did you find this to be the case as well?

Thanks for your replies! -- your feedback is helping my calm my frayed nerves!!

 

[aestheticsmatter]

Belatedly, my condolences on your aunt passing away.

 

[pizza99]

Thanks!! I fairly decent with math so I'm hoping for a lot of calculations... I have worked in retail for a while so I'm familiar with somethings. I'm extremely nervous, (esp. since my job offer hangs on me passing) and am hoping to do well, but will settle for just passing at this point.

I'm trying summarize the main point of the chapters in 1 page per chapter, since I know it is unlikely that I will recall any more than that much info...

May I ask, did you get a lot of ID? Did you often have to distinguish between first and second line treatments?

A lot of people have commented that the patient cases are "polypharmacy", as in they involved more than 1 disease state per question -- did you find this to be the case as well?

Thanks for your replies! -- your feedback is helping my calm my frayed nerves!!

Yes lots of poly pharmacy. Patients have several disease states so like I said - know HLD, HTN and diabetes as these are important disease states for pharmacists and are usually present in most patients. Also, since you've worked in retail you will be fine!! You are already a master of brand/generic. Since I worked in a hospital I was good with the IV brand name drugs but struggled with the basic easy HTN combo and diabetes brand names! Also since you counsel patients you will be solid on your counseling points. I did not have that much ID but that could be because I got them all right lol! The test is adaptive - so if you do well on a topic then you won't get more questions on it. It is important to know alternative antibiotic treatment options because as a pharmacist this is what doctors will call you for - it is one of the major roles of rphs - many times in retail there are patients who have allergies and you have to call the doctor and recommend and alternative. Keep that in mind. Honestly if you work then you will be fineeeeee....

 

[pizza99]

Belatedly, my condolences on your aunt passing away.

Thank you 🙂

 

[pizza99]

Also, keep in mind the major compounding disaster that happened a few years ago with those steroid products that were not produced under USP standards. Sterile compounding is important for pharmacists to know and it is a big safety concern. Make sure you review that chapter well.

 

[REALMANMAN]

Exam next week! Freaking OUT! wish me luck guys!

 

[coco nut]

thank you for your note. very helpful!

Hello,

Today I found out that I passed the NAPLEX! I took it the first week of February so just a little over 2 weeks ago and I passed by a very nice margin. My study materials were: 2015 RX Prep along with RX Prep test bank and their lectures. RX Prep is ALL YOU NEED. It is crazy how everything in that book is on the exam. Forget that APHA book as it is stuffed with unnecessary details. A little bit of background - my rotations during P4 year were drug information, oncology, cardiology, psychiatry, hospital, acute care, ambulatory care, and retail. Most of my rotations were very hard (lots of all-nighters). I also worked as a hospital intern for three years. I was a B student throughout pharmacy school.
I studied for three weeks with the last week being the most intense. I only went through RX Prep once (barely). My aunt also passed away during those three weeks so I had to delay my exam by a week because no time to study. I strongly suggest buying the new 2016 version of RX Prep if you don't already have one. However, if you are using the 2015 version like me you will be fine as long as you are confident in your knowledge of disease states and math. But if you are always on the struggle bus then definitely get the new version. The new book focuses more on compounding than the previous version and there were some compounding questions on the exam that I had no idea how to figure out and others I only knew because I worked in a hospital. I was scoring 50s-80% on the RX Prep test bank questions. I strongly suggest doing those as they are very similar question format to the NAPLEX and the explanations at the bottom are helpful. Scoring in the 60-70% is more than enough! I was questioning whether to get the lectures but THANK GOD I DID - it was so much easier to learn the material by watching the lectures (esp listening to Shapiro). They provide you mnemonics and other ways to easily remember things. They also point out whats important for the NAPLEX.
The exam topics were ALL over the place. Antibiotics, psychiatry, cancer, OTC, HLD, HTN, anticoag, birth control, sterile compounding, HIV, gout, ADHD, diabetes, hep C, osteoporosis, herbals, dosing of some not so popular drugs (wth!?), alternative therapies, preservatives, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, lots of math and TPN, counseling points, also lots of BIOSTATS!! KNOW YOUR BRAND GENERIC. I definitely got screwed on that because I had quite a few brand name drugs that were not top 200! I don't think I did well on the math portion. The very first question was math and I was so nervous in the beginning I couldn't figure it out so I skipped it :/ not a good start BUT DO NOT LET A HARD QUESTION DISCOURAGE YOU! I am very comfortable with clinical stuff so I know I got all the HIV, cancer, psych questions correct because I only got a few. There are quite a few select all that apply. I was worried about time in the beginning but it was fine. Just make sure you don't spend TOO much time on a math question - if you can't figure it out after a minute then SKIP IT! I finished the exam with thirty minutes left.
You really need to know how to look at a complete patient profile. The questions are all case based. HLD, HTN, and diabetes problems are incorporated in almost every case even if the questions isn't directly asking about them so know those disease states well. The first half of the exam was easy I thought and then it got harder and I was guessing a lot more. My friend said that if you are doing well then they will throw harder questions at you? Well either way I passed so I am happy!
Study hard. Some questions are very easy, others you have to figure out, and some are just out of the blue and hopefully your work experience will guide you through. Definitely know your math and TPN stuff because those should be easy points. My friend said that this years test was much harder than last years. Like I said, STUDY HARD and you will be fine! I could not sleep the night before the exam - I woke up very groggy but drank a good strong cup of coffee and I persisted through. Have a good meal before to provide you energy. It is a LONG exam - by the time I got to the last 4 questions I think I started guessing because I was so tired. I can't believe they are trying to add even more questions. Good luck to everyone! Now on to the CPJE :/

 

[aestheticsmatter]

Question: are the oncology questions focused on just side-effects/toxicity or do we also need to know all the other info as well, like MOA, etc.

 

[aestheticsmatter]

Exam next week! Freaking OUT! wish me luck guys!

hello!

when are you taking your naplex?

 

[djoker]

why to skip math questions after a minute when you get roughly 90 seconds for each question. BTW, nice tall man lettering skills

 

[angryrx]

For people anxious about the 2016 Naplex, you may want to take the Pre-Naplex. I took the Pre-Naplex soon after graduation, didn't read a single thing, got 120. Spent 3 days studying for cushion and scored 136 on the Naplex.

I'm not throwing out numbers to brag. I'm not very smart, I wasn't a good student (I came to class drunk on a few occasions), but even I passed. So, I would recommend everyone take the Pre-Naplex to gauge their readiness, then study the appropriate amount of time.

 

[pizza99]

why to skip math questions after a minute when you get roughly 90 seconds for each question. BTW, nice tall man lettering skills

What I meant was if you cannot figure out how to solve a math question after a minute then you should probably skip it...I mean if you can't figure it out after a minute then how much longer are you really going to spend trying to figure it out and then actually solving it?

 

[owass23]

Anyone selling their Rxprep Test bank access ? Please email me.

 

[RxHeels]

@pizza99: Thank you for sharing these thorough & practical tips re: pacing as well as subject matters to focus on. Q: I'm an alumni (4 years ago) & have been out of the pharmacy for probably the last 3 years. I'm struggling w/memorizing all these brand/generics & identifying between CII vs. CIII-IV & CV meds as well as getting a few therapeutic areas down (ID, Cardio, HIV). If I were to try to volunteer/seek an internship somewhere while I study, would you suggest high volume retail, low volume independent, or charity clinic where I do pretty much 100% patient counseling? Thanks in advance!


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