Lurking around and reading other "Passed NAPLEX!" posts really helped me prep and get a better understanding of the exam, so I decided to make my own post after finding out that I passed today (got a score of 85). Barely passed, but passed nonetheless. I was the C student that crammed the night before exams and didn't remember anything after the exam, so if I could pass, you can too.
My only study materials were the RxPrep book and online question bank. I didn't get the video lectures, although I kind of wish I did, because I was really slow in reading chapters (a couple hours to read one chapter), got bogged down by the details. I had the book for months, but only really started studying a month out, after formally scheduling the exam (ATT took forever). I went through the whole book first, highlighting and also outlining chapters by hand. I paced myself to get through 300 pages a week. Then I went through the online question bank, usually scored in the 60s, and redid the questions I missed. In retrospect, I didn't really retain information the first time around but I was anxious to get through the whole book a couple weeks before the exam. I did that thing where you cut the spine and pages out of the RxPrep book at a FedEx store to put in a binder and carry around individual chapters, because the book is huge and a pain to carry around.
I also used Quizlet.com for memorizing things like brand/generic names, controlled substance status, and warfarin/levothyroxine color. In the final days leading up to the exam, I did the calculations and clinical trial portions of the question bank, and revisited those chapters in the book.
I didn't do the calculations sheet that's sticky'd (because I saw a post saying that it went beyond what's required for the NAPLEX and RxPrep was sufficient), nor did I do Pre-NAPLEX. I did do the 150 question practice exam in the RxPrep online question bank, about a week before my exam, and got a 57% on that.
Day of the exam, I memorized key formulas and conversions from the calculation section, and made sure to jot them down on the scrap paper, first thing when I started the exam. Formula for BEE is given but you still need to know how to calculate TEE (easy because just multiply by stress factor and activity factor). I was not surprised that normal ranges for labs were given, but surprised that normal ranges for drugs (e.g. lithium, phenytoin) was given too. I did get a question for a drug's normal range that wasn't given.
I totally skipped HIV (and opportunistic infections) when studying, but ended up getting a lot of those questions unfortunately and had to guess a lot. I also had a lot of calculations questions (like a third of the exam) and questions on clinical trial analysis (e.g. calculating relative risk reduction, number needed to treat, interpret clinical trial results), which I think RxPrep prepared me well for. Also got questions on compounding and references (e.g. pink book, orange book).
Kind of funny, but during the exam, I would get sets of questions pertaining to one clinical scenario, and it'll start out with "Pick a drug to replace X in the patient's medication regimen" and the next question would start with "Physician wants to do a trial of Y..." so I knew whether I got the previous question wrong. I got 2 bathroom/snack breaks during the exam, first break came after 3.5 hours, I think. The test computer alerts you when it comes time for breaks. Finished the exam after about 4 hours, while taking my time with each question.
All in all, I was pretty relaxed on the day of the exam (good night sleep, ate a good meal, got to the testing site early). I definitely recommend the RxPrep book and the online question bank and especially nailing down calculations.
Good luck!
My only study materials were the RxPrep book and online question bank. I didn't get the video lectures, although I kind of wish I did, because I was really slow in reading chapters (a couple hours to read one chapter), got bogged down by the details. I had the book for months, but only really started studying a month out, after formally scheduling the exam (ATT took forever). I went through the whole book first, highlighting and also outlining chapters by hand. I paced myself to get through 300 pages a week. Then I went through the online question bank, usually scored in the 60s, and redid the questions I missed. In retrospect, I didn't really retain information the first time around but I was anxious to get through the whole book a couple weeks before the exam. I did that thing where you cut the spine and pages out of the RxPrep book at a FedEx store to put in a binder and carry around individual chapters, because the book is huge and a pain to carry around.
I also used Quizlet.com for memorizing things like brand/generic names, controlled substance status, and warfarin/levothyroxine color. In the final days leading up to the exam, I did the calculations and clinical trial portions of the question bank, and revisited those chapters in the book.
I didn't do the calculations sheet that's sticky'd (because I saw a post saying that it went beyond what's required for the NAPLEX and RxPrep was sufficient), nor did I do Pre-NAPLEX. I did do the 150 question practice exam in the RxPrep online question bank, about a week before my exam, and got a 57% on that.
Day of the exam, I memorized key formulas and conversions from the calculation section, and made sure to jot them down on the scrap paper, first thing when I started the exam. Formula for BEE is given but you still need to know how to calculate TEE (easy because just multiply by stress factor and activity factor). I was not surprised that normal ranges for labs were given, but surprised that normal ranges for drugs (e.g. lithium, phenytoin) was given too. I did get a question for a drug's normal range that wasn't given.
I totally skipped HIV (and opportunistic infections) when studying, but ended up getting a lot of those questions unfortunately and had to guess a lot. I also had a lot of calculations questions (like a third of the exam) and questions on clinical trial analysis (e.g. calculating relative risk reduction, number needed to treat, interpret clinical trial results), which I think RxPrep prepared me well for. Also got questions on compounding and references (e.g. pink book, orange book).
Kind of funny, but during the exam, I would get sets of questions pertaining to one clinical scenario, and it'll start out with "Pick a drug to replace X in the patient's medication regimen" and the next question would start with "Physician wants to do a trial of Y..." so I knew whether I got the previous question wrong. I got 2 bathroom/snack breaks during the exam, first break came after 3.5 hours, I think. The test computer alerts you when it comes time for breaks. Finished the exam after about 4 hours, while taking my time with each question.
All in all, I was pretty relaxed on the day of the exam (good night sleep, ate a good meal, got to the testing site early). I definitely recommend the RxPrep book and the online question bank and especially nailing down calculations.
Good luck!
