- Joined
- May 1, 2018
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Hi all,
First time poster here. Have read up on a lot of valuable information here and wanted to share my feedback with the current NAPLEX.
I studied lightly for the month after my rotations ended (April) and then went hard in May-June (about 8 weeks of doing 4-5 hours of actual studying each day). Was a 3.1 cumulative GPA at an established school, Pre-naplex score 85 and started PGY1 residency today.
Like what many others here have said, you should be able to do the math (SDN120 is more than enough) and biostats in your sleep. Biostats, just know your RR, RRR, ARR, NNT and basics on how to interpret results.
What I was not prepared for was the 20-30 questions on compounding. Holy shhhhhh.....there were questions on selecting the right ingredient, compounding techniques, order of compounding steps, how to mix solutions that have differing pHs....like some of this stuff legit wasn't in the RxPrep book. READ UP ON THESE TOPICS.
Know your ID first line agents. STDs and OIs are free points if you commit it to memory. Know common causative organisms. The only questions I got that required knowledge of second line agents were UTIs (3 questions where Nitro was a choice but CrCl was < 60) and one where patient was allergic to sulfas and needed prophylaxis for PCP/Toxo (Hint: Dapsone).
I had maybe 10 total questions between Onc and HIV. HIV was brand names of combo drugs; Onc was side effect management. Very little on HTN, DM (no new drugs; mostly just convert mealtime insulin to basal, days of room temp. stability), hyperlipidemia (does this patient qualify for high intensity statin? Hint: YES), Asthma/COPD (like 1 question for each, super basic stuff)
Other than that, I'd say it was about 15-20% select all that apply. Like one question on Osteoporosis, Birth control, Cystic Fibrosis, Anxiety, Depression, etc.
BOTTOM LINE: Even realizing how much I did know, most of the exam was using deductive reasoning to just make a logical choice. No amount of rxprep studying will prepare you for the biggest test of all...just using your common sense. You've had this beaten into your head for the last 4 years. I walked out with anxiety; there was a lot that I just didnt know. But I pulled off a 101. I'd say I was confident was 50% of the questions, 25-30% was educated guessing and 20% was totally clueless on or just too difficult. I studied WAYYY too much. If you have rxprep, study bold and underlined only and you're good. You could prep in 2 weeks if you had to.
Math/Biostats/Compounding/ID - know this and you will pass, guaranteed
First time poster here. Have read up on a lot of valuable information here and wanted to share my feedback with the current NAPLEX.
I studied lightly for the month after my rotations ended (April) and then went hard in May-June (about 8 weeks of doing 4-5 hours of actual studying each day). Was a 3.1 cumulative GPA at an established school, Pre-naplex score 85 and started PGY1 residency today.
Like what many others here have said, you should be able to do the math (SDN120 is more than enough) and biostats in your sleep. Biostats, just know your RR, RRR, ARR, NNT and basics on how to interpret results.
What I was not prepared for was the 20-30 questions on compounding. Holy shhhhhh.....there were questions on selecting the right ingredient, compounding techniques, order of compounding steps, how to mix solutions that have differing pHs....like some of this stuff legit wasn't in the RxPrep book. READ UP ON THESE TOPICS.
Know your ID first line agents. STDs and OIs are free points if you commit it to memory. Know common causative organisms. The only questions I got that required knowledge of second line agents were UTIs (3 questions where Nitro was a choice but CrCl was < 60) and one where patient was allergic to sulfas and needed prophylaxis for PCP/Toxo (Hint: Dapsone).
I had maybe 10 total questions between Onc and HIV. HIV was brand names of combo drugs; Onc was side effect management. Very little on HTN, DM (no new drugs; mostly just convert mealtime insulin to basal, days of room temp. stability), hyperlipidemia (does this patient qualify for high intensity statin? Hint: YES), Asthma/COPD (like 1 question for each, super basic stuff)
Other than that, I'd say it was about 15-20% select all that apply. Like one question on Osteoporosis, Birth control, Cystic Fibrosis, Anxiety, Depression, etc.
BOTTOM LINE: Even realizing how much I did know, most of the exam was using deductive reasoning to just make a logical choice. No amount of rxprep studying will prepare you for the biggest test of all...just using your common sense. You've had this beaten into your head for the last 4 years. I walked out with anxiety; there was a lot that I just didnt know. But I pulled off a 101. I'd say I was confident was 50% of the questions, 25-30% was educated guessing and 20% was totally clueless on or just too difficult. I studied WAYYY too much. If you have rxprep, study bold and underlined only and you're good. You could prep in 2 weeks if you had to.
Math/Biostats/Compounding/ID - know this and you will pass, guaranteed
