I passed the NAPLEX the 2nd time 2017

[sticks_758]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lord999]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...
#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!

I would suggest prayer (and an up-to-date liability insurance policy) for the patients that you are going to practice on and hope that the system is robust enough for them to survive the consequences of marginal knowledge. I don't know who on the forum said that if you can't pass, you shouldn't practice, but that's a sentiment echoed by many of us, and it really is because practice at time can be harder than that.

I lament the fact that candidates today feel that they need the power of prayer to pass, not because of religion, but because that both speaks to a lack of experience or preparation. This isn't something where much of the matter is out of your hands, like surviving cancer. You are more or less completely in control of your circumstances when you attempt the Boards. There is no good reason except lack of competency for failing the Boards even with the differences in questions between each administration. Pray only for the circumstances that you cannot control, like making sure you safely get to the Prometric testing center with a functional car and back, but you should trust in your own knowledge when you take the exam, you should not leave it to whoever your pray to see you through something that you have the strength to accomplish on your own.

I heartily congratulate you on your passing, but I would agree that if you can't pass the NAPLEX, the minimum competency exam, you really should not be in practice. Passing the Boards and entering practice is the start of the pursuit of an ever higher standard, not the culmination of years of study.

 

[Corpseman]

Did you work during school?

 

[owlegrad]

The douchbaggery is strong already. I can pretty much guarantee you could work with OP and never guess he didn't pass the first time. No way the NAPLEX is a strong indicator of ability to be a pharmacist.

 

[RxPreceptor]

Yes, NAPLEX is minimum competency and tests mostly for on-label indications. In practice, anything goes, including off-label knowledge. There are no multiple choices in practice. Off-label & even some off-route makes things a lot more complicated & I would suggest gaining familiarity with in practice (plus on-label gets so boring eventually).

 

[Dreamer716]

I would suggest prayer (and an up-to-date liability insurance policy) for the patients that you are going to practice on and hope that the system is robust enough for them to survive the consequences of marginal knowledge. I don't know who on the forum said that if you can't pass, you shouldn't practice, but that's a sentiment echoed by many of us, and it really is because practice at time can be harder than that.

I lament the fact that candidates today feel that they need the power of prayer to pass, not because of religion, but because that both speaks to a lack of experience or preparation. This isn't something where much of the matter is out of your hands, like surviving cancer. You are more or less completely in control of your circumstances when you attempt the Boards. There is no good reason except lack of competency for failing the Boards even with the differences in questions between each administration. Pray only for the circumstances that you cannot control, like making sure you safely get to the Prometric testing center with a functional car and back, but you should trust in your own knowledge when you take the exam, you should not leave it to whoever your pray to see you through something that you have the strength to accomplish on your own.

I heartily congratulate you on your passing, but I would agree that if you can't pass the NAPLEX, the minimum competency exam, you really should not be in practice. Passing the Boards and entering practice is the start of the pursuit of an ever higher standard, not the culmination of years of study.

What a douche

 

[TheBlaah]

I dunno. Listing prayer as one of three steps to passing the Naplex and that it made as much of a difference as studying...Really?

 

[gwarm01]

I dunno. Listing prayer as one of three steps to passing the Naplex and that it made as much of a difference as studying...Really?

I personally relied on tarot cards to pass.

 

[Charcoales]

Naplex was ez imho, but the law exam was pure torture felt I guessed on almost every question (that was after reviewing all the pharmacy law)

 

[BidingMyTime]

OP, I disagree when you say it is all your fault. Perhaps partially, but a big part of the fault is with your school. Your school is responsible for not adequately preparing you. Sure, if 98% of your classmates passed, and you didn't, then I would say, Yeah, it's all your fault. But that isn't how it happened, is it? Many schools have high failure rates (personally, I consider anything over 5 - 8%, a high failure rate), because they are not adequately preparing students.

If your school was adequately preparing you, it wouldn't be "years" since you reviewed stuff. Your school failed you, kudos to you for figuring out how to pass Naplex on your own.

 

[Rouelle]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

Congrats OP. Good luck starting out in your career.

 

[Son_Goku]

What was your score the first time vs second time?

 

[littlepharmacygirl]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

How did you

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

Did you do boardvitals after going through the book once? and how long did study for the second time

 

[Abby Atwood]

Did you do boardvitals after going through the book once? and how long did study for the second time

Be careful with board vitals. My school gave us free access and I found answering the questions to be helpful and fun, but about 1 in 25 questions is out of date or just plain incorrect. If something seems off, look things up before continuing. Don’t automatically take the answer at face value.

 

[littlepharmacygirl]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

Would u be able to post your rewritten notes of TMRIs notes

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

The NAPLEX should be a one-attempt-only exam.

I wish i could require the people i interview to bring their nabp profile.
I would never hire someone that didn't pass on the first try.

 

[smercer]

The NAPLEX should be a one-attempt-only exam.

I wish i could require the people i interview to bring their nabp profile.
I would never hire someone that didn't pass on the first try.

Should they bring their credit score and all transcripts from High school thru pharmacy school too? Sure wouldn't want to hire someone with crappy credit or who may have failed a course either.
Seriously, some people do just have severe test anxiety and perform poorer than their knowledge level in these situations.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Should they bring their credit score and all transcripts from High school thru pharmacy school too? Sure wouldn't want to hire someone with crappy credit or who may have failed a course either.
Seriously, some people do just have severe test anxiety and perform poorer than their knowledge level in these situations.

Those are the kind of people that let University of Phoenix graduate managers force them to fill Fentanyl 100mcg #30 "1 patch every 12 hours"

 

[Sabril]

The douchbaggery is strong already. I can pretty much guarantee you could work with OP and never guess he didn't pass the first time. No way the NAPLEX is a strong indicator of ability to be a pharmacist.

agreed. I know one girl who failed it once and two other people who failed it at least twice, and all of them overcame it eventually and are doing fine now, employed with big chains, making sweet cash. Yes the big chains that many "competent" pharmacists are struggling with, no offense because it is indeed very tough out there. No matter how you get here, it will eventually just come down to how thick your skin is and what mood your supervisor is in at the moment that will determine how long you can live and play this game.

Congrats to the OP and best of luck to you!

 

[Dred Pirate]

Naplex was ez imho, but the law exam was pure torture felt I guessed on almost every question (that was after reviewing all the pharmacy law)

this - one of the best pharmacists I work with failed the law the first time - but it was in a different state, and he admitted he thought he could fake his way through (he scored a 120 on the naplex) - I don't fault someone if they failed because of that, but failing the naplex - that is what honestly scares me

 

[Rouelle]

Should they bring their credit score and all transcripts from High school thru pharmacy school too? Sure wouldn't want to hire someone with crappy credit or who may have failed a course either.
Seriously, some people do just have severe test anxiety and perform poorer than their knowledge level in these situations.

I’ve had more than one job in which a credit check was part of the company required background check.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

agreed. I know one girl who failed it once and two other people who failed it at least twice, and all of them overcame it eventually and are doing fine now, employed with big chains, making sweet cash. Yes the big chains that many "competent" pharmacists are struggling with, no offense because it is indeed very tough out there. No matter how you get here, it will eventually just come down to how thick your skin is and what mood your supervisor is in at the moment that will determine how long you can live and play this game.

Congrats to the OP and best of luck to you!

I'm not sure retail should be considered a test of competency.

Let's be honest.

An experienced tech could do the verification at an extremely busy Walgreens or CVS.

They don't have the time or staff necessary to take the time to use their professional knowledge.

It's just a fast paced matching game.

 

[gwarm01]

this - one of the best pharmacists I work with failed the law the first time - but it was in a different state, and he admitted he thought he could fake his way through (he scored a 120 on the naplex) - I don't fault someone if they failed because of that, but failing the naplex - that is what honestly scares me

I'm not ashamed to say I barely passed my Florida law exam. I attended school in a different state and only had hospital experience, so the questions about prescription legalities were tough for me.

I forget who it was on here that supplied their FL law notes, but I'm grateful to you for getting me licensed.

 

[Son_Goku]

this - one of the best pharmacists I work with failed the law the first time - but it was in a different state, and he admitted he thought he could fake his way through (he scored a 120 on the naplex) - I don't fault someone if they failed because of that, but failing the naplex - that is what honestly scares me

Are you kidding me? 90% of the things people get in trouble for are related to the law. The computer will almost make it bulletproof for you when it comes to "clinical" mistakes.

 

[Chriskahn]

Yes, NAPLEX is minimum competency and tests mostly for on-label indications. In practice, anything goes, including off-label knowledge. There are no multiple choices in practice. Off-label & even some off-route makes things a lot more complicated & I would suggest gaining familiarity with in practice (plus on-label gets so boring eventually).

There are no multiple choices in practice, but there are references you can use so it's like an open book exam. You just have to be good at finding the answers.

Had a doc on the phone asking me for an antibiotic suggestion the other day. Picked up a Sanford and looked it up in less than 30 seconds. I gave the doc my answer, mentioning Sanford as my reference, which to me is more legit than not using any resources. Doc was grateful

 

[wucool33]

I honestly thought the law exam was wayyyyy easier than the NAPLEX... Didn't really study for it and just used common sense "hmmm, what would I do in real life in this case?"

 

[owlegrad]

I honestly thought the law exam was wayyyyy easier than the NAPLEX... Didn't really study for it and just used common sense "hmmm, what would I do in real life in this case?"

That was my experience as well.

 

[Sabril]

I'm not sure retail should be considered a test of competency.

Let's be honest.

An experienced tech could do the verification at an extremely busy Walgreens or CVS.

They don't have the time or staff necessary to take the time to use their professional knowledge.

It's just a fast paced matching game.

really? I didn't know we have to be competent. And I thought we were only supposed to be high volume vendor machines that the public can press some buttons and select what they want. Maybe they can get a couple packs of gum too while they are at it.

In all seriousness, I really feel that competency is such a subjective term. We all can knock down a couple of cans of beer, reflect back on our career and feel that we are competent, provided that our career is long enough. Yes I am a apathetic pessimist, but I feel that pharmacy is first and foremost a job. As with any job, you likely cannot make everybody happy, but hopefully nobody is unhappy enough to land you in a heap of dung.

 

[Dred Pirate]

Are you kidding me? 90% of the things people get in trouble for are related to the law. The computer will almost make it bulletproof for you when it comes to "clinical" mistakes.

I meant more of the stupid non-descript law things - or things (I work in a hospital) I don't care how you transfer a rx or how many refills you can have - it is all the same for me

 

[PharmtoCS]

As early as 5 years ago we would have all agreed that anyone who failed the NAPLEX, a basic competency exam is not fit to practice pharmacy. Now we're starting to get to the point which we are defending them and apologizing for being too hard on them - "NAPLEX scores don't matter, just because you fail doesn't mean you'll be a bad pharmacist, etc."

My, how standards have changed.

 

[Son_Goku]

As early as 5 years ago we would have all agreed that anyone who failed the NAPLEX, a basic competency exam is not fit to practice pharmacy. Now we're starting to get to the point which we are defending them and apologizing for being too hard on them - "NAPLEX scores don't matter, just because you fail doesn't mean you'll be a bad pharmacist, etc."

My, how standards have changed.

Huh? Was the profession born just 5 years ago?

People have been failing their boards (no matter the profession) since its inception.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Huh? Was the profession born just 5 years ago?

People have been failing their boards (no matter the profession) since its inception.

There has been a large increase in the number of students failing the NAPLEX in recent years. Some might attribute it to increased difficulty of the NAPLEX but most of it likely has to do with schools allowing substandard students to graduate.

5 years ago we would straight up tell them that if they don't pass a minimal competency exam then they're not fit to practice, period.

 

[Apotheker2015]

Huh? Was the profession born just 5 years ago?

People have been failing their boards (no matter the profession) since its inception.

And if you think about it... since 2008 CDER (center for drug evaluation and research) has averaged 31 novel drug approvals. There are more, but let's limit our math to that. 31 x 10 years = 310 drugs AT LEAST that any old timer didn't have to know for the NAPLEX.

Peeps, let's be kind to one another. It never stops surprising how pharmacists go at each other here. Imagine what it will be like when every state is saturated...?

 

[Dred Pirate]

And if you think about it... since 2008 CDER (center for drug evaluation and research) has averaged 31 novel drug approvals. There are more, but let's limit our math to that. 31 x 10 years = 310 drugs AT LEAST that any old timer didn't have to know for the NAPLEX.

Peeps, let's be kind to one another. It never stops surprising how pharmacists go at each other here. Imagine what it will be like when every state is saturated...?

ya - but you can say the same thing, many of the drugs that old timers knew- aren't tested on anymore, and likely new grads have never heard of.

 

[Apotheker2015]

ya - but you can say the same thing, many of the drugs that old timers knew- aren't tested on anymore, and likely new grads have never heard of.

You're not an old timer. LOL
My definition of old timer is a friend of mine who dispenses Truvada as monotherapy thinking it's for HIV treatment.

And sure, you could argue that. Ask anyone though, ibuprofen, warfarin, lisinopril, aspirin and NPH to name a few, still show up.

Truth is all of us forget the minutia we could readily regurgitate back when we took the NAPLEX. All I am saying is the kid put his best foot forward after failing to recognize he needed to train to take the test. That really is it. Passing the NAPLEX says just that - speaks for your ability to jump through the hoops of the test. It does not predict that you will be a good pharmacist. Failing it once or twice does not predict either you will be known as 007.
A very good friend of mine BARELY passed it. To this day she has not told anyone her score. Everyone else in our study group broke 100. Given that she was the one aspiring to pharmacy residencies we figured she'd murder that test. Well, she didn't. It had to be a 67 or something around there. However, she still got into top residency programs for PGY-1 and PGY-2. She is an accomplished clinical specialist in my city who barely passed the NAPLEX.
Time and time again, the SAME pharmacists berate whoever comes back to share their accomplishment. Without fail, it quickly turns into a circle j3rk. Everyone ends up talking to OP like he/she is riding the short bus. Well, if all or any of you are too good for the short bus and to be talking to OP, then get OFF the damn short bus already!
Save yourself sometime people, and finally, write a manifesto on why anyone who fails the NAPLEX should not be allowed to become a pharmacist and forward it to NABP. Do not waste your energy here.
And this is a example of why pharmacists will never reach provider status. We do not support each other. Every chance we get, we tear each other apart. In times of famine, instead of gathering vegetables, we prey on the weakest and eat them limb by limb. Saw it happen at my school so many times. You would not catch me dead breathing the same air as those people.

Here's the link to "How Nurse Practitioners Obtained Provider Status: Lessons For Pharmacists"

https:// www. medscape. com/viewarticle/464663_3

They set their differences aside and became laser focused on obtaining provider status. They published studies that showed favorable and equal outcomes for patients under the care of nurse practitioners. Physicians pushed back and nurses flooded them with even more data. They started a lobbying campaign like no one had ever seen back then. Nurses sat down with lobbyist and members of congress. Soon enough members of congress were visiting sites and well, the rest of history.
We are incapable of that. Instead of opening the flood gates and stating loud and clear our worth, we dilly dally in the hospital's central pharmacy and only verify STAT orders right away. We stick to the unspoken agreement to not verify more orders than everyone else or any faster than anyone. We are lazy.
Nurses aren't. If it takes wiping cr@p, they will get the job done with a sense of urgency; so they can move on to the next task and get MORE THINGS DONE because without them the hospital falls apart; the same way they rushed to congress and advanced their profession.

 

[Son_Goku]

There has been a large increase in the number of students failing the NAPLEX in recent years. Some might attribute it to increased difficulty of the NAPLEX but most of it likely has to do with schools allowing substandard students to graduate.

5 years ago we would straight up tell them that if they don't pass a minimal competency exam then they're not fit to practice, period.

No, we wouldn't. SDN archives date back to the pre-historic ages. The number of threads of people failing have been more or less the same every year. 93%, 92%, 95%, or 90% it really doesn't matter what the (first-time) passing rate is because quite frankly they all end up near 100% eventually. The sooner you realize everyone is pretty stupid the better off you'll be.

 

[Apotheker2015]

I would suggest prayer (and an up-to-date liability insurance policy) for the patients that you are going to practice on and hope that the system is robust enough for them to survive the consequences of marginal knowledge. I don't know who on the forum said that if you can't pass, you shouldn't practice, but that's a sentiment echoed by many of us, and it really is because practice at time can be harder than that.

I lament the fact that candidates today feel that they need the power of prayer to pass, not because of religion, but because that both speaks to a lack of experience or preparation. This isn't something where much of the matter is out of your hands, like surviving cancer. You are more or less completely in control of your circumstances when you attempt the Boards. There is no good reason except lack of competency for failing the Boards even with the differences in questions between each administration. Pray only for the circumstances that you cannot control, like making sure you safely get to the Prometric testing center with a functional car and back, but you should trust in your own knowledge when you take the exam, you should not leave it to whoever your pray to see you through something that you have the strength to accomplish on your own.

I heartily congratulate you on your passing, but I would agree that if you can't pass the NAPLEX, the minimum competency exam, you really should not be in practice. Passing the Boards and entering practice is the start of the pursuit of an ever higher standard, not the culmination of years of study.

Passive aggression at its best. Who on earth are you to judge him? How about all pharmacists have to recertify licensure by taking the Naplex every 5 years?
He clearly stated he took the NAPLEX without preparing for the race. The second time around he took it seriously and passed. Done. Congrats, kiddo! Well, done!
Either give a compliment or don’t. But to wrap it in that Minnesota-nice loop of nonsense that oscillates between highly offensive but quickly reverts right back to insincere applause. Seriously...

And AGAIN, that’s why nurses obtained provider status. Nothing intimidates a nurse. Here you are telling new grads they’re worthless after failing to pass on their first attempt? So they should just quit everything; all after dropping 200K, no less.

What if he is an addict in recovery who had a relapse right before the boards but won’t share that because hey, does he need to? Then got his act together, got sober, put his head down and trained well to take the test.

What if he has a disability and thought he would try to take the test without ADA accommodations the first time and failed? What if he requested accommodations but the testing site failed to provide the accommodations adequately, he wanted to get the test over with and took the NAPLEX that day instead of rightfully requesting it’d be rescheduled?

You ought to listen to yourself sometimes. You are another mortal just like the rest of us. No better, no worse. Live and let live.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

And if you think about it... since 2008 CDER (center for drug evaluation and research) has averaged 31 novel drug approvals. There are more, but let's limit our math to that. 31 x 10 years = 310 drugs AT LEAST that any old timer didn't have to know for the NAPLEX.

Peeps, let's be kind to one another. It never stops surprising how pharmacists go at each other here. Imagine what it will be like when every state is saturated...?

Pffffffffffftttt.
How many of those are distinct, new classes

I would honestly wager less than 0.1%.

And those new ones are probably rare specialty drugs.

 

[BMBiology]

No, we wouldn't. SDN archives date back to the pre-historic ages. The number of threads of people failing have been more or less the same every year. 93%, 92%, 95%, or 90% it really doesn't matter what the (first-time) passing rate is because quite frankly they all end up near 100% eventually. The sooner you realize everyone is pretty stupid the better off you'll be.

What are you talking about? Here's the passage rate for the last 3 years: 90% in 2014, 87% in 2015, 80% in 2016. Don't tell me there is no downward trend. It is pretty obvious.

https://nabp.pharmacy/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2016-NAPLEX-Pass-Rates.pdf

The simple truth is...pharmacy schools are accepting less qualify students. Saturated job market + dramatic increase of pharmacy schools = less qualify students.

When I was in school, everyone and their mother wanted to go to pharmacy school so competition was intense. Now anyone and everyone can get accepted. So pharmacy schools have to dig in deep for students. They got bills to pay too.

I am not saying you need to ace your NAPLEX in order to be a good pharmacist but failing the NAPLEX is almost unheard of 10 years ago. You have to ask yourself what were you doing in pharmacy school and why you can't pass an exam that has over 95% passage rate not too long ago. It sucks but you have to figure out what went wrong and fix it.

 

[Highly favored]

You're not an old timer. LOL
My definition of old timer is a friend of mine who dispenses Truvada as monotherapy thinking it's for HIV treatment.

And sure, you could argue that. Ask anyone though, ibuprofen, warfarin, lisinopril, aspirin and NPH to name a few, still show up.

Truth is all of us forget the minutia we could readily regurgitate back when we took the NAPLEX. All I am saying is the kid put his best foot forward after failing to recognize he needed to train to take the test. That really is it. Passing the NAPLEX says just that - speaks for your ability to jump through the hoops of the test. It does not predict that you will be a good pharmacist. Failing it once or twice does not predict either you will be known as 007.
A very good friend of mine BARELY passed it. To this day she has not told anyone her score. Everyone else in our study group broke 100. Given that she was the one aspiring to pharmacy residencies we figured she'd murder that test. Well, she didn't. It had to be a 67 or something around there. However, she still got into top residency programs for PGY-1 and PGY-2. She is an accomplished clinical specialist in my city who barely passed the NAPLEX.
Time and time again, the SAME pharmacists berate whoever comes back to share their accomplishment. Without fail, it quickly turns into a circle j3rk. Everyone ends up talking to OP like he/she is riding the short bus. Well, if all or any of you are too good for the short bus and to be talking to OP, then get OFF the damn short bus already!
Save yourself sometime people, and finally, write a manifesto on why anyone who fails the NAPLEX should not be allowed to become a pharmacist and forward it to NABP. Do not waste your energy here.
And this is a example of why pharmacists will never reach provider status. We do not support each other. Every chance we get, we tear each other apart. In times of famine, instead of gathering vegetables, we prey on the weakest and eat them limb by limb. Saw it happen at my school so many times. You would not catch me dead breathing the same air as those people.

Here's the link to "How Nurse Practitioners Obtained Provider Status: Lessons For Pharmacists"

https:// www. medscape. com/viewarticle/464663_3

They set their differences aside and became laser focused on obtaining provider status. They published studies that showed favorable and equal outcomes for patients under the care of nurse practitioners. Physicians pushed back and nurses flooded them with even more data. They started a lobbying campaign like no one had ever seen back then. Nurses sat down with lobbyist and members of congress. Soon enough members of congress were visiting sites and well, the rest of history.
We are incapable of that. Instead of opening the flood gates and stating loud and clear our worth, we dilly dally in the hospital's central pharmacy and only verify STAT orders right away. We stick to the unspoken agreement to not verify more orders than everyone else or any faster than anyone. We are lazy.
Nurses aren't. If it takes wiping cr@p, they will get the job done with a sense of urgency; so they can move on to the next task and get MORE THINGS DONE because without them the hospital falls apart; the same way they rushed to congress and advanced their profession.

Well said!

 

[Tammy Nguyen]

There has been a large increase in the number of students failing the NAPLEX in recent years. Some might attribute it to increased difficulty of the NAPLEX but most of it likely has to do with schools allowing substandard students to graduate.

5 years ago we would straight up tell them that if they don't pass a minimal competency exam then they're not fit to practice, period.

They changed Brand New Naplex questions on the test on 2016. I think they made it more harder. Since 2016, the passing core was decreased in almost every pharmacy school.

 

[Son_Goku]

They changed Brand New Naplex questions on the test on 2016. I think they made it more harder. Since 2016, the passing core was decreased in almost every pharmacy school.

No they didn't.

It's still the same questions. I've got access to questions dating back to 2004.

Lol.

 

[Modest_anteater]

Ok so this is going to be slightly long but hopefully it will help others...

So I was a pretty great student in pharmacy school, but I was also the student that would study about 3 days before and do fine. I did the unthinkable: I failed the NAPLEX. It was the worst feeling I have honestly ever felt. I had a job lined up and they went out on a limb and hired me before I was licensed, and calling them was the lowest of the low. I had never failed anything in my life just to fail the most important test of my career....It's awful. But it was my fault. My school bought us RX Prep out P4 year and I never looked at it once until a week after I graduated. All my friends/classmates started passing ( people who did worse than me in school) so I figured that it would be a breeze and stopped studying, and then I failed. But its NOT the end of the world and you've GOT to pick yourself up and start again! I took the NAPLEX 6 weeks later and thankfully passed!! I turned to this website almost everyday and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted and give back what I can.

#1) I was told to have a "Healthy fear" of the NAPLEX and that is 100% accurate. I went in having no fear the first time and that was a mistake, but the second time I almost stressed myself out too much. What you have to remind yourself is it's BASIC competency! But also its been YEARS since we learned some of this stuff and our brains are so packed full from pharmacy school! I remember after I failed I was reading a post on SDN and the one guy pretty much said, "the NAPLEX is basic competency and if you can't pass it then you shouldn't be a pharmacist." That hurt. But thats NOT TRUE. Its just it's important to study and refresh ourselves over disease states for the NAPLEX. I used RX Prep and made sure that I at least touched on every disease state in the book.

- For example: Gout is an easy disease state, however I learned about it over 2 years ago and never experienced it in my rotations. So yeah I forgot that you treat until the uric Acid level is < 6 or the dosing for colchicine in a acute attack. So if that was going to be on my NAPLEX I would've gotten it wrong. Does that mean I shouldn't be a pharmacist? NO. Did I need to review Gout for BASIC COMPETENCY? Yes! and I did!​

So my first tidbit of advice would be: At least refresh yourself on every disease state! Everything is fair game in NAPLEX so be ready for anything!

#2) I mainly used RX Prep and the online Q bank. The first time I went over like the first 10 lessons then stopped because I got to cocky. The second time I went through EVERYTHING, watched the videos and took the corresponding quizzes. I also used the TMIR (Thank God for this man) notes that are floating around here, the 120 SDN calculations, the LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards, and boardvitals.

• The TMIR notes I used at the end of the week to review what I had gone over that week so I didn't forget everything I just learned, I also re-wrote them (because thats how I learn) and added things to them. THESE ARE AWESEOME!
  • Then about 5 days before the NAPLEX I just constantly went over my/TMIR's notes, and re-took the corresponding RX Prep quizzes.
• You HAVE to be solid on calculations for the NAPLEX. Rx Prep does a great job with the basics but the 120 SDN Calculations are better at multiple step problems that are more indicative of the NAPLEX. I used both and highly suggest that you do too.
• The LANGE Pharmacotherapy flash cards help you get into a case based mindset, which is SO IMPORTANT on this new NAPLEX. The cards are like 300 cased based questions that get you in the habit of looking at vitals/allergies/SOAP note style questions which helped me TREMENDOUSLY the second time!
  
• Boardvitals is awesome because it helps you set up your own tests with however many questions you want, I would do 250 questions every 3 days to help with my endurance, fight exam fatigue, and help with my timing. When you are sitting in a room for 5 hours and you have 50 questions left to go and your tired/starving/cold you start to not care and just try to get through them then you make stupid mistakes and can't go back to check your answers! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!

#3) "Pray to God, but row to shore" Before this happened to me, I was a person that was harshly judging people for failing the NAPLEX. This was an extremely humbling experience that I honestly think made me a better person and pharmacist. Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference as any. Please PM me and I will pray for you if you would like!!!


I'm not going to tell you what was on my NAPLEXs because they were SO different, just as yours will be different. You just need to be ready for anything, but you CAN do it!! If you have any other questions please let me know!! Good luck!

>Also, I became very close to God again during this experience and truly saw the power of prayer. I prayed before, during (when I got overwhelmed) and after my test and I honestly believe that made a big a difference

Hey thanks for the input. I am curious what god you prayed to so I can pray to the same god. I am currently praying to God / Jesus (God in the humanized format) but am considering expanding my prayers to include Vishnu, YHWH, Elohim and Allah. I want to pray to the same God that helped you pass so that I might be allowed to pass as well. If you don't want to post it here please PM me the God you prayed to. Thank you and congrats!

 

[Modest_anteater]

The NAPLEX should be a one-attempt-only exam.

I wish i could require the people i interview to bring their nabp profile.
I would never hire someone that didn't pass on the first try.

Man it's so easy for you to say that but i wonder if you failed the test the first time you would hold the same sentiment.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Man it's so easy for you to say that but i wonder if you failed the test the first time you would hold the same sentiment.

Lol, I don't understand the point you think you're trying to make.

I'm sure people like that are used to making excuses and expecting people to accommodate them.

 

[wucool33]

Man it's so easy for you to say that but i wonder if you failed the test the first time you would hold the same sentiment.

Really think about what you are saying here...

 

[Modest_anteater]

Really think about what you are saying here...

English is my third language so i think i'm doing okay brosef.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

English is my third language so i think i'm doing okay brosef.

He means the subtext

 

[willowwren]

I would suggest prayer (and an up-to-date liability insurance policy) for the patients that you are going to practice on and hope that the system is robust enough for them to survive the consequences of marginal knowledge. I don't know who on the forum said that if you can't pass, you shouldn't practice, but that's a sentiment echoed by many of us, and it really is because practice at time can be harder than that.

I lament the fact that candidates today feel that they need the power of prayer to pass, not because of religion, but because that both speaks to a lack of experience or preparation. This isn't something where much of the matter is out of your hands, like surviving cancer. You are more or less completely in control of your circumstances when you attempt the Boards. There is no good reason except lack of competency for failing the Boards even with the differences in questions between each administration. Pray only for the circumstances that you cannot control, like making sure you safely get to the Prometric testing center with a functional car and back, but you should trust in your own knowledge when you take the exam, you should not leave it to whoever your pray to see you through something that you have the strength to accomplish on your own.

I heartily congratulate you on your passing, but I would agree that if you can't pass the NAPLEX, the minimum competency exam, you really should not be in practice. Passing the Boards and entering practice is the start of the pursuit of an ever higher standard, not the culmination of years of study.

You have been active on this site for 10 years it says, how many drugs have been added since you took the test? I ask because they do not remove the old drugs but just keep adding. If you were tested on HIV medication regimens as 1/6 of the exam you are saying that you would pass? Are you also saying that if you didn't that you should turn in your license? I would be interested in seeing what your score would be today if you retested. I have had multiple preceptors tell me they are not sure they could pass the test with all of the new drugs that have been discovered. Shame on you for being anything less than helpful.....isn't that what we are striving for in this profession....to help people?

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

You have been active on this site for 10 years it says, how many drugs have been added since you took the test? I ask because they do not remove the old drugs but just keep adding. If you were tested on HIV medication regimens as 1/6 of the exam you are saying that you would pass? Are you also saying that if you didn't that you should turn in your license? I would be interested in seeing what your score would be today if you retested. I have had multiple preceptors tell me they are not sure they could pass the test with all of the new drugs that have been discovered. Shame on you for being anything less than helpful.....isn't that what we are striving for in this profession....to help people?

Do you not know what continuing education is?