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- Feb 17, 2018
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Hi guys, I just wanted to share my experience with the NAPLEX in 2018.
I passed using only free resources. Here are my thoughts.
Overall impressions of the exam, very comprehensive. You literally have to have a very broad knowledge base. When it comes to specific topics, nothing stood out because I had a little bit of everything.
The questions were not so much clinical in nature (which is the primary focus of many US PharmD programs including mine) but more so safety, labs, interactions, and a good amount of calculations.
Now, I have to admit going into the exam, I was clueless and had no idea how to prepare. I got a free 2016 RxPrep book from a friend and the book was so overwhelming. It looked thick and I didn't really feel like reading it all to be honest. So I looked at other options and scoured the internet to find resources I could use. The RxPrep question bank was highly recommended but I didn't have the money to pay for it so I kept looking.
Finally, after searching far and few in between, I found three free resources that I used exclusively to help me pass my exam.
1. RxPrep NAPLEX Facebook Group
2. TLDR Pharmacy Blog
3. Minimalist Pharmacist Blog
RxPrep Facebook Group
The Rxprep facebook group is filled with study guides, questions posted by people studying, and is a bit of a support group for those who have passed and failed the NAPLEX. It's definitely a great community to be a part of. I like that people are very responsive, if you have any questions, they are willing to answer and give feedback. They provide a lot of advice and is a great place to start when studying. What I don't like about the group, however, is that it is really more for the foreign pharmacists who need more preparation and support. They recommend months of studying (which is not true for a US PharmD grad) and the overall feel is that you need to study your life away in order to pass. The point I want to make is that this group may not be the best place to "brush up" on what you need in order to be prepared as a US Grad.
The next two blogs are written by board certified US based PharmD grads (I think there's two in TLDR and one in Minimalist Pharmacist) and I have to say that both of these blogs were totally game changers for me.
The TLDR Blog
This blog is amazing! They do an excellent job of providing detailed but relatable and easy to understand blog posts for some of the major topics needed for the naplex. They provide study charts (which you do have to buy at around $4) but the bulk of the information is free to use if you take the time to read through all their posts. I especially like the ID, HIV, and Oncology posts they have which totally was easy to read through, review, and I felt comfortable enough to just use this material for the NAPLEX which was more than enough. Highly recommend!
Minimalist Pharmacist
This is a very unique blog. The concept the blogger wanted to go with is to provide minimalist style blog posts that cover short and succinct material efficiently and minimally. The blog posts are no more than 5-10 minutes reads, they are interesting, engaging, very simple and quite easy to comprehend. The style and design is quite pleasing and overall feel of the blog makes it less a bore to read and more interesting in my opinion. This is pretty new but I think I got more out this blog that any other sources of of material because of how relatable the blogger is. There are also some interesting personal posts, clinical pharmacy related posts, and pharmaceutical industry post. I think the blogger is also an MBA with experience in hospital and industry, not quite sure.
How I Passed NAPLEX.
In total, I skimmed through the old (2016) and sometimes outdated RxPrep book in addition to looking at the study guide in the facebook group for about 7 days and had enough of it.
Then I looked at all of TLDR's post, which took about 3 days. Then lastly, I powered through all of the Minimalist Pharmacist's post for the next 4 days. I did math problems from the 120 here on SDN in between looking through all three sources and took the NAPLEX a 2 days later. No Pre-Naplex, No Practice Exams, No Test bank, nothing other than the three and I --> Passed with no problems.
If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Good luck guys!
I passed using only free resources. Here are my thoughts.
Overall impressions of the exam, very comprehensive. You literally have to have a very broad knowledge base. When it comes to specific topics, nothing stood out because I had a little bit of everything.
The questions were not so much clinical in nature (which is the primary focus of many US PharmD programs including mine) but more so safety, labs, interactions, and a good amount of calculations.
Now, I have to admit going into the exam, I was clueless and had no idea how to prepare. I got a free 2016 RxPrep book from a friend and the book was so overwhelming. It looked thick and I didn't really feel like reading it all to be honest. So I looked at other options and scoured the internet to find resources I could use. The RxPrep question bank was highly recommended but I didn't have the money to pay for it so I kept looking.
Finally, after searching far and few in between, I found three free resources that I used exclusively to help me pass my exam.
1. RxPrep NAPLEX Facebook Group
2. TLDR Pharmacy Blog
3. Minimalist Pharmacist Blog
RxPrep Facebook Group
The Rxprep facebook group is filled with study guides, questions posted by people studying, and is a bit of a support group for those who have passed and failed the NAPLEX. It's definitely a great community to be a part of. I like that people are very responsive, if you have any questions, they are willing to answer and give feedback. They provide a lot of advice and is a great place to start when studying. What I don't like about the group, however, is that it is really more for the foreign pharmacists who need more preparation and support. They recommend months of studying (which is not true for a US PharmD grad) and the overall feel is that you need to study your life away in order to pass. The point I want to make is that this group may not be the best place to "brush up" on what you need in order to be prepared as a US Grad.
The next two blogs are written by board certified US based PharmD grads (I think there's two in TLDR and one in Minimalist Pharmacist) and I have to say that both of these blogs were totally game changers for me.
The TLDR Blog
This blog is amazing! They do an excellent job of providing detailed but relatable and easy to understand blog posts for some of the major topics needed for the naplex. They provide study charts (which you do have to buy at around $4) but the bulk of the information is free to use if you take the time to read through all their posts. I especially like the ID, HIV, and Oncology posts they have which totally was easy to read through, review, and I felt comfortable enough to just use this material for the NAPLEX which was more than enough. Highly recommend!
Minimalist Pharmacist
This is a very unique blog. The concept the blogger wanted to go with is to provide minimalist style blog posts that cover short and succinct material efficiently and minimally. The blog posts are no more than 5-10 minutes reads, they are interesting, engaging, very simple and quite easy to comprehend. The style and design is quite pleasing and overall feel of the blog makes it less a bore to read and more interesting in my opinion. This is pretty new but I think I got more out this blog that any other sources of of material because of how relatable the blogger is. There are also some interesting personal posts, clinical pharmacy related posts, and pharmaceutical industry post. I think the blogger is also an MBA with experience in hospital and industry, not quite sure.
How I Passed NAPLEX.
In total, I skimmed through the old (2016) and sometimes outdated RxPrep book in addition to looking at the study guide in the facebook group for about 7 days and had enough of it.
Then I looked at all of TLDR's post, which took about 3 days. Then lastly, I powered through all of the Minimalist Pharmacist's post for the next 4 days. I did math problems from the 120 here on SDN in between looking through all three sources and took the NAPLEX a 2 days later. No Pre-Naplex, No Practice Exams, No Test bank, nothing other than the three and I --> Passed with no problems.
If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Good luck guys!
