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I found these posts really helpful when studying for the NAPLEX so I thought I'd share my experience:
Materials (not for sale):
RxPrep 2018 book
RxPrep test bank
RxPrep video lectures
tldr pharmacy (antibiotics, HIV, etc.)
Minimalist Pharmacist blog
PreNAPLEX x 2
MedEd practice NAPLEX x 2
About me:
Average student (~3.5 GPA) at a well-regarded public school, 98th percentile on PCAT, 78th percentile on PCOA as a P3, working in retail
Studying:
I started studying casually in January 2018. I had a boring hospital rotation so I started reading the RxPrep book and watching some lectures. I also studied ID and the background chapters (nonsterile compounding, interactions, adverse reactions, etc.) for a few hours most Saturday mornings.
I kicked my studying into higher gear in June. I was working part-time so I spent a few hours some days reading the book and watching lectures on topics that I found difficult. I also did some of the RxPrep quiz banks. I typed up reviews of a lot of the chapters and/or made handwritten charts. I found Quizlets to be really helpful for learning brand/generic names. I studied for 6 hours a day for 5 days leading up to my exam and then did not study at all the day before. I did the math problems in the RxPrep book twice in total and the stats quiz banks once. I didn't get around to doing the math quiz banks. I took the PreNAPLEX twice and worked through both of the 250 question MedEd practice tests.
NAPLEX:
I finished in <4 hours, including an unscheduled break. I felt that the difficulty level of the NAPLEX was the same as the PreNAPLEX. The math/stats was manageable, but you definitely must memorize Cockcroft-Gault, IBW, corrected calcium, corrected phenytoin, and all of the risk calculations. All peak/trough ranges and normal lab values were given on my exam. In terms of non-math questions, I felt like I got a wide variety of topics. I got a couple of questions each about tough subjects like HIV and oncology but they were brand/generic questions or about side effect management/toxicity. Everyone who has said that the NAPLEX is safety-focused is 100% right. You need to know serious toxicities and common side effects. That said, I don't think I got many questions where I had to know normal dosing or even min/max dosing. The bolded and underlined points in RxPrep correlated pretty well with what my exam asked me about. There were only a handful of questions where I looked at it and thought "there is no way anyone ever taught me this" and just had to make an educated guess. Basically, I think if you went to a decent pharmacy school and devoted a couple of weeks to reading RxPrep and practicing math then you should be able to pass this thing with little trouble.
Scores:
PreNAPLEX 1 (1 month before exam) - 98
PreNAPLEX 2 (2 weeks before exam - 101
NAPLEX - 111
Took the exam on a Wednesday and had my results on Monday afternoon
Final thoughts:
The RxPrep book is the holy grail, in my opinion. If you only buy one thing it should be the book. The quiz banks are nice, but there were just so many questions and they're harder than the actual NAPLEX so I didn't end up taking most of the quizzes. The videos were nice for math but I don't think they're really worth the price tag. The second thing you should buy is the practice exams from MedEd. Those were very reflective of the real NAPLEX and they're 250 questions each so you get a ton of practice.
Really try not to let yourself freak out over this exam. I literally made myself sick to my stomach over it for weeks because I was so nervous. Taking the PreNAPLEX twice and working through the MedEd questions made me feel better. My classmates did the same or better on the NAPLEX as they did on the preNAPLEX so that boosted my confidence as well. Staying calm in the face of the exam is critical to performing your best.
Materials (not for sale):
RxPrep 2018 book
RxPrep test bank
RxPrep video lectures
tldr pharmacy (antibiotics, HIV, etc.)
Minimalist Pharmacist blog
PreNAPLEX x 2
MedEd practice NAPLEX x 2
About me:
Average student (~3.5 GPA) at a well-regarded public school, 98th percentile on PCAT, 78th percentile on PCOA as a P3, working in retail
Studying:
I started studying casually in January 2018. I had a boring hospital rotation so I started reading the RxPrep book and watching some lectures. I also studied ID and the background chapters (nonsterile compounding, interactions, adverse reactions, etc.) for a few hours most Saturday mornings.
I kicked my studying into higher gear in June. I was working part-time so I spent a few hours some days reading the book and watching lectures on topics that I found difficult. I also did some of the RxPrep quiz banks. I typed up reviews of a lot of the chapters and/or made handwritten charts. I found Quizlets to be really helpful for learning brand/generic names. I studied for 6 hours a day for 5 days leading up to my exam and then did not study at all the day before. I did the math problems in the RxPrep book twice in total and the stats quiz banks once. I didn't get around to doing the math quiz banks. I took the PreNAPLEX twice and worked through both of the 250 question MedEd practice tests.
NAPLEX:
I finished in <4 hours, including an unscheduled break. I felt that the difficulty level of the NAPLEX was the same as the PreNAPLEX. The math/stats was manageable, but you definitely must memorize Cockcroft-Gault, IBW, corrected calcium, corrected phenytoin, and all of the risk calculations. All peak/trough ranges and normal lab values were given on my exam. In terms of non-math questions, I felt like I got a wide variety of topics. I got a couple of questions each about tough subjects like HIV and oncology but they were brand/generic questions or about side effect management/toxicity. Everyone who has said that the NAPLEX is safety-focused is 100% right. You need to know serious toxicities and common side effects. That said, I don't think I got many questions where I had to know normal dosing or even min/max dosing. The bolded and underlined points in RxPrep correlated pretty well with what my exam asked me about. There were only a handful of questions where I looked at it and thought "there is no way anyone ever taught me this" and just had to make an educated guess. Basically, I think if you went to a decent pharmacy school and devoted a couple of weeks to reading RxPrep and practicing math then you should be able to pass this thing with little trouble.
Scores:
PreNAPLEX 1 (1 month before exam) - 98
PreNAPLEX 2 (2 weeks before exam - 101
NAPLEX - 111
Took the exam on a Wednesday and had my results on Monday afternoon
Final thoughts:
The RxPrep book is the holy grail, in my opinion. If you only buy one thing it should be the book. The quiz banks are nice, but there were just so many questions and they're harder than the actual NAPLEX so I didn't end up taking most of the quizzes. The videos were nice for math but I don't think they're really worth the price tag. The second thing you should buy is the practice exams from MedEd. Those were very reflective of the real NAPLEX and they're 250 questions each so you get a ton of practice.
Really try not to let yourself freak out over this exam. I literally made myself sick to my stomach over it for weeks because I was so nervous. Taking the PreNAPLEX twice and working through the MedEd questions made me feel better. My classmates did the same or better on the NAPLEX as they did on the preNAPLEX so that boosted my confidence as well. Staying calm in the face of the exam is critical to performing your best.
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