NAPLEX Summer 2016

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Aeglej

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Hello Everyone,

I took NAPLEX last week and just found out I passed! I want everyone to know that it is a doable test. It has been extremely agonizing for me the past few days. I had many random questions that I had no idea what the answer should be so I guessed a lot. But I am confident on my math and biostatistics which I think helped me.

I had many math questions. Most of them are fill in blank type. For math, definitely know the plain old CrCl calculation. Biostatistics questions are primary literature review and chart review, very similar to what I did in pharmacy school.

The only material I used is RxPrep. I think it is a very good review book. I would say it covered at least 95% of questions (The rest 5% were so random you would need to go over your school notes to find the answer). I didn’t get 95% correct because not all material I studied stuck. So please know the underlined points in the book. Those not underlined materials are important too. I read through the whole book ( I know it’s daunting), did most of the questions at the end of each chapter. I did not use any of their online resources mainly due to financial reason. If you have some money to spare, I would recommend their online question bank. I think their math chapter is sufficient to prepare for the exam. I did not use SDN math questions. I heard they were overkill. The key for math is you need to solve the problem quickly and accurately under exam condition.

As for the PreNAPLEX, I definitely recommend it, but don’t be discouraged if you didn’t do well. I did one a few days before my real test and scored in 70’s. My real score is upper 80’s. So it is true that the preNAPLEX score had some indication to the real one. The PreNAPLEX helps you to familiarize different question types, especially the patient case type. If I had enough money, I would have purchased the second PreNAPLEX. Towards the end of the exam, my brain felt so wonky but by looking at those long patient cases, I needed to pick out important information to answer the question (please remember to “pick out” not “read through”. You don’t have time to read through). Two important things regarding pre- and real NAPLEX: One, you will like the calculator on the real exam a lot better than the preNAPLEX. Two, you do not need to memorize those normal lab values. It will be provided during the real exam. I did not know that.

This site has been very helpful to me. I hope my post could help you a little bit while you are studying for this nerve-wracking exam. Good luck everyone! Please let me know if you have any questions.

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Congratulations! And Thank you for your advice! On an average how much time we should spend according to you on each question including math question?
 
Congratulations! And Thank you for your advice! On an average how much time we should spend according to you on each question including math question?

I took the NAPLEX this summer as well. It is 185 questions and you get 255 minutes (4 hr 15 min) to finish the exam. That comes to an average of a little less than a minute and a half per question. Spend a little more time/slow down a bit when doing the fill in the blank math (don't spend 5 mins+ though) so you can avoid missing questions due to a simple math error. There will be more straight forward mc questions mixed in as well that you should be able to answer quickly, so this negates the extra time doing some of the math problems. Also, some of the patient cases and primary literature review may take a little longer since you are sifting through more information. The key is to track your pace....I broke up the exam in 1 hour blocks and each hour said I should have done 46 questions.

My exam eased up in the last third overall in question difficulty, so I finished the last 60 or so more quickly than the first third of the exam and finished with about 20 minutes to spare. Just don't panic/pause a bit and breathe if you don't know where to initially start on a question, as well as be willing to just pick an answer and move on if you still have no idea what the answer is. 35 questions get thrown out and the test is heavily scaled, so there is a lot of leeway in missing questions. Be very strong in math and biostats (including interpreting results, not just memorizing biostats equations) and if you have even a modicum of decent drug knowledge, you will be fine. I left my exam feeling pretty terrible and thinking of all the drug questions I missed that I shouldn't have, and I passed with a pretty good cushion.

P.S.: I agree with OP....RxPrep is a really thorough book and more than enough to pass. Use the book and go through the online questions, and you're golden. The math portion of the book hits all of the big calculations you will need to know, but look around online for any types of math problems you feel weaker in. You really need to be able to jump right in and know how to solve the math quickly to ensure you have enough time for the exam.
 
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Thank you Wickett for the detailed breakdown on how to spend time on each question. Thanks a lot. Where can I find biostat (interpreting results type of) questions?
 
Congratulations! And Thank you for your advice! On an average how much time we should spend according to you on each question including math question?
Hello! Sorry for the delayed reply. I have been studying for my law exam the past few days. I think Wickett answered the question very well. You will have 4 hours and 15 minutes to complete 185 questions so it is about one and half minutes per question. But for those questions you either know the answer or you don't, it should only take you a few seconds. Please don't dwell on any question. Take a guess and move on. You will need more time on some complicated math questions. I know I spent probably over two minutes on some of the math questions. Good luck on your exam!
 
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I took my NAPLEX today, awaiting scores now and it's nerve wracking! I mainly used RX Prep and items our professors had given us. Hopefully I made a passing score.
I completely understand how you feel! It is nerve wrecking! Good luck! :)
 
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