CPJEdecoder
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2018
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 12
I wanted to start a thread that focuses on how I eventually passed the CPJE by changing how/what I was studying. I also want to invite others to share what changes they made to their study habits for the CPJE that eventually made the difference. First-time passers of the CPJE, you lucky devils, are also invited to share your study habits here as well.
I want to begin by stating that what I had been using to study for the CPJE, i.e., RxPrep, Weismann, was no different from what others had been using to pass the CPJE, but simply being told what to study, for me at least, hadn't been entirely helpful on two prior attempts to pass the CPJE.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say that RxPrep and the other top recommended study resources are great resources for studying for the CPJE, but these resources are almost encyclopedic in information and detail. Especially, Weissmann. The CPJE, in my experiences, wasn't about fine details, but rather it's broad scope, which definitely caught me by surprise the first time I attempted to pass the test. Don't let this happen to you. Simply put: the CPJE covers a wide range of topics and therefore so must you.
That said many of you may be surprised to hear that I studied less overall content once I finally passed the CPJE. I simplified my notes by eliminating all the secondary and tertiary details regarding any one topic. Regarding notes: I highly recommend studying from the notes you've taken after going through the RxPrep chapters (for the clinical portion) vs. rereading these chapters, in their entirety, over-and-over again. Again, many of these study resources provide way more information than you'll need to pass the CPJE. I also used complete, simply constructed sentences to clarify a singular point of information for my notes vs. charts, bulleted lists, or tables. Dare I say once I moved away from the way information is presented in RxPrep I passed the CPJE, but it's true.
The third time around I also decided break down the large volume of info I compiled into smaller, sensical groups, e.g., all the brands, generics, dosing, clinical pearls, etc. vs. by disease state. Then I started with studying very simple information, i.e., generics, brands, then adding more complex information like dosing, clinical pearls, etc. It just made more sense to build upon/reinforce the information this way.
To clarify: I studied generics and indications, brands and indications vs. generics and brands because on the CPJE you'll be presented with a generic or brand name and knowing its indication will help you arrive to the correct choice. I did study generics, brands and dosing grouped together because generally the only time you'll need to know dosing on the CPJE is when you have to fill or reject a prescription that your technician has prepared after comparing it to what the technician wrote on the label, which also includes determining if the correct generic was substituted for the brand . I'll be happy to clarify more studying specifics if asked; this message is getting quite lengthy.
With regard to how I studied this third time around, I found these two new study habits extremely helpful: 1) listening to white noise and 2) reading/studying for 15 minutes, then rereading that smaller block of information 3 additional times (for a total of 4 times to complete each hour). The brain is like a muscle and found this repetition helped contribute significantly to my "muscle memory." I was amazed at how much more information I was able to recall after each study session vs. when only reading as much information as I could once. I was also surprised at how much the white noise help me block out all the surrounding, distracting noise so that I was able to hyper-focus on studying. Using noise to create "silence" seems logically counterintuitive, but it works.
I also invite those that post to this thread to let us know how many points they improved their CPJE scores by.
(Together with your help) I look forward to helping as many people to pass the CPJE as possible.
I want to begin by stating that what I had been using to study for the CPJE, i.e., RxPrep, Weismann, was no different from what others had been using to pass the CPJE, but simply being told what to study, for me at least, hadn't been entirely helpful on two prior attempts to pass the CPJE.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say that RxPrep and the other top recommended study resources are great resources for studying for the CPJE, but these resources are almost encyclopedic in information and detail. Especially, Weissmann. The CPJE, in my experiences, wasn't about fine details, but rather it's broad scope, which definitely caught me by surprise the first time I attempted to pass the test. Don't let this happen to you. Simply put: the CPJE covers a wide range of topics and therefore so must you.
That said many of you may be surprised to hear that I studied less overall content once I finally passed the CPJE. I simplified my notes by eliminating all the secondary and tertiary details regarding any one topic. Regarding notes: I highly recommend studying from the notes you've taken after going through the RxPrep chapters (for the clinical portion) vs. rereading these chapters, in their entirety, over-and-over again. Again, many of these study resources provide way more information than you'll need to pass the CPJE. I also used complete, simply constructed sentences to clarify a singular point of information for my notes vs. charts, bulleted lists, or tables. Dare I say once I moved away from the way information is presented in RxPrep I passed the CPJE, but it's true.
The third time around I also decided break down the large volume of info I compiled into smaller, sensical groups, e.g., all the brands, generics, dosing, clinical pearls, etc. vs. by disease state. Then I started with studying very simple information, i.e., generics, brands, then adding more complex information like dosing, clinical pearls, etc. It just made more sense to build upon/reinforce the information this way.
To clarify: I studied generics and indications, brands and indications vs. generics and brands because on the CPJE you'll be presented with a generic or brand name and knowing its indication will help you arrive to the correct choice. I did study generics, brands and dosing grouped together because generally the only time you'll need to know dosing on the CPJE is when you have to fill or reject a prescription that your technician has prepared after comparing it to what the technician wrote on the label, which also includes determining if the correct generic was substituted for the brand . I'll be happy to clarify more studying specifics if asked; this message is getting quite lengthy.
With regard to how I studied this third time around, I found these two new study habits extremely helpful: 1) listening to white noise and 2) reading/studying for 15 minutes, then rereading that smaller block of information 3 additional times (for a total of 4 times to complete each hour). The brain is like a muscle and found this repetition helped contribute significantly to my "muscle memory." I was amazed at how much more information I was able to recall after each study session vs. when only reading as much information as I could once. I was also surprised at how much the white noise help me block out all the surrounding, distracting noise so that I was able to hyper-focus on studying. Using noise to create "silence" seems logically counterintuitive, but it works.
I also invite those that post to this thread to let us know how many points they improved their CPJE scores by.
(Together with your help) I look forward to helping as many people to pass the CPJE as possible.