WORRIED STUDENT HERE. What is the best material to start studying with and how to study. Please very scares about new exam.
STUDY ADVICE FOR NEW NAPLEX
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^strong 3rd post.
Good advice, I do believe.... but taking naplex in September? I'd much rather study balls to the wall march/april/may and take it in early June. We all need $$, can't hold off working any longer.
Good advice, I do believe.... but taking naplex in September? I'd much rather study balls to the wall march/april/may and take it in early June. We all need $$, can't hold off working any longer.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to wait that long. I took mine in June after graduating in May. It's kind of hard to study four years worth of material. You should have a solid baseline by now. I took the practice test and covered my weak areas, which was a lot of ambulatory care stuff since I was a peds hospital intern and never saw a lot of that. Hopefully the math will be freebies for you.
I also used the same combination of books! Studied from the Pharmacy Charts then Rxprep.
Pharmacy Charts:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2017-Editio...172663?hash=item3ccde1ea77:g:35kAAOSwx6pYn4dC
Rxprep:
Amazon product
You are starting a bit early tho! Are you going to be able to recall the information you studied 6 months ago?
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The test isn't that hard. No one should have to study for 6 months if they went to a halfway competent pharmacy school. If I were you I'd take it in June and if you fail take it again in Sep
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I guess this would depend on the quality of one's school, but if you had a good school, then you shouldn't need more than a couple of weeks to review everything. You should already know everything that will be on the test, that is the whole idea of going to pharmacy school.
2 months top of hard core studyin is good enough. Can someone take care of the kids?
I'd love to see a leaked test just to compare it to the one I took. I wonder just how more difficult it is? Would we have seen schools with a 60% pass rate five years ago or is this just because schools started admitting 2.3 GPA 40th percentile PCAT students?
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You have left out math. When I took the exam in 2014 we were told point blank that there is a minimum amount of math questions/calculations you MUST get correct or you will fail the exam. So being able to do the calculations quickly and correctly is essential. The calculations in RxPrep in my opinion is the bare minimum and if you get an unlucky turn of the questions you may be SOL. I would recommend working out all the problems in the student doctor list on this site. Know them inside and out.
The SDN 120 are far harder than anything you will see on the actual exam. If you can do those then the real exam will be very very easy.
it is work plus kids plus getting old! do you know someone to take care of everything?
how much are you paying? when did you graduate?
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We should give you the money and have you take the NAPLEX again so we can once and for all know if the NAPLEX is harder vs. 3-5 years ago. Are you for it?
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Throw in the cash for MPJE and I'm down.
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Can you really take the NAPLEX and MPJE again after you have passed?
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what was your score? gotta make sure you qualify!
Oh, you want someone who did well on the exams? Then I'm not your guy. I'm Mr. Minimally competent.
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This website track NAPLEX passage rate. Peaked at 97% in 2008. This year, it is just 86%: http://clincalc.com/Pharmacy/NAPLEX.aspx
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Just study the calculations and formulas.
If you didn't learn it in 4 years you're not gonna learn it in 1 month.
Lol...how many days did you study?
I don't really remember, but know me and the fact that I had just moved to a new city.. I bet I spent more time in the bar than at my desk.
You should have studied at the bar! Lol
Also look at the SD...it is way larger!
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Did they get rid of the "adaptive" test? I remember when I took it, I had over 50 questions about calculations and at least 30 brand-generic questions, 3 patient cases, and one question about oncology.
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Hi there! Recently took the the new Naplex!
I would definitely buy the RxPrep Quiz banks and the book. YOU HAVE TO MASTER calculations (memorize the equations like: corrected calcium, corrected PTH..etc.). The quiz bank will help with you with the compounding (and calculation) chapter and vaccinations were important also.
As for the rest of the chapters, it was all over the place; but a chunk of it was based on Infectious and HIV.
I would definitely buy the RxPrep Quiz banks and the book. YOU HAVE TO MASTER calculations (memorize the equations like: corrected calcium, corrected PTH..etc.). The quiz bank will help with you with the compounding (and calculation) chapter and vaccinations were important also.
As for the rest of the chapters, it was all over the place; but a chunk of it was based on Infectious and HIV.
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Not sure if they got rid of the "adaptive" test, but when I recently took it, it seemed adaptive because I constantly got questions in areas I was weak in and pretty sure guessed on. The new test is practically entirely patient case based; cases with multiple disease states incorporated into it. There were definitely more questions based on compounding, drug references and vaccination (they did increase the amount of questions and increased the time from 4.5 to 6 hrs). And for the brand-generic, they didn't specifically ask what is the brand/generic of _____? You basically have to know the brand/generics of everything cause they will sure incorporate it into your patient case or choices and if you don't know it, you're basically screwed and will get the question wrong.
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Did you also take the "old" naplex? How was it compared to the "new" naplex?
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supposedly that is gone. does anyone know?
any thoughts?
Why the Drop in the NAPLEX Pass Rates?
Why the Drop in the NAPLEX Pass Rates?
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. So goes the old saying, and for more pharmacy students than ever, this is going to be necessary with respect to their 2016 licensing exam. Last year we saw possibly the lowest overall pass rate for the NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination) ever, dropping to 85% overall, with some very large swings depending on the college of pharmacy attended. There were about 14,000 first-time test-takers among 2016 graduates. Around 2,000 of them will need to take it again. The data comes directly from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).1
What accounts for the lower pass rate?
One strong possibility is the new format of the NAPLEX. For some time we have known about certain changes in the design, specifically that the exam was increasing from 185 to 250 questions. The length of time was also increased from 4.5 to 6 hours. But aside from these changes, not much has been disclosed about the specific nature of the questions. There have been general statements about adding more depth to the clinical assessment and recommendation sections.
What is more interesting about the latest pass rate data is the large difference in success seen between the different schools of pharmacy. Many schools did well, with over 90% of the first-time attempts passing. The University of Washington, for example, had 94 students take the test with a pass rate of 98.94% (presumably just 1 didn’t succeed). But many other schools fared worse, with pass rates below 80% and even below 70% for some. One school with a fairly well-established history had a pass rate of only 64.4% among the 264 first-time test takers last year.
One wonders about these large differences in success rates between the colleges. You might think that newer schools would be at a disadvantage, as they have fewer years of experience with which to work. School size doesn’t seem to be a strong factor either. University of Florida had 263 first-time takers with a fantastic pass rate of 94%. A smaller college with just 65 takers had a pass rate was only 75%.
I suppose it is possible that some schools may be accepting and passing students that are not really academically qualified for the rigors of the NAPLEX exam. Maybe the new format caught some schools by surprise. Whatever the reason, I have no doubt that those schools who performed more poorly will be making some adjustments to their curriculum in the months ahead.
For pharmacists concerned about the job market, it is interesting to see how the total number of test-takers has risen over the years. In 2006, there was just over 9,000 national attempts. In 2016 there over 15,500 attempts. Although the pass rate dropped and only about 13,240 new pharmacists were licensed (assuming they passed their respective state law exams), this number was not a decrease in new pharmacists for the profession over previous years.
As a pharmacist concerned about the quality of our educational programs, and one who has the privilege of serving as a preceptor as well, I will admit that the overall drop in pass rates gives me something to think about. We all have a responsibility to train the next generation of pharmacists well, for whatever career path they ultimately choose. For those who worked hard, studied well, but did not pass the exam, I sincerely encourage you to try, try again.
Reference
1. National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. NAPLEX 2016 Pass Rates. NABP website. https://nabp.pharmacy/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2016-NAPLEX-Pass-Rates.pdf. Accessed September 12, 2017.
Why the Drop in the NAPLEX Pass Rates?
Why the Drop in the NAPLEX Pass Rates?
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. So goes the old saying, and for more pharmacy students than ever, this is going to be necessary with respect to their 2016 licensing exam. Last year we saw possibly the lowest overall pass rate for the NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination) ever, dropping to 85% overall, with some very large swings depending on the college of pharmacy attended. There were about 14,000 first-time test-takers among 2016 graduates. Around 2,000 of them will need to take it again. The data comes directly from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).1
What accounts for the lower pass rate?
One strong possibility is the new format of the NAPLEX. For some time we have known about certain changes in the design, specifically that the exam was increasing from 185 to 250 questions. The length of time was also increased from 4.5 to 6 hours. But aside from these changes, not much has been disclosed about the specific nature of the questions. There have been general statements about adding more depth to the clinical assessment and recommendation sections.
What is more interesting about the latest pass rate data is the large difference in success seen between the different schools of pharmacy. Many schools did well, with over 90% of the first-time attempts passing. The University of Washington, for example, had 94 students take the test with a pass rate of 98.94% (presumably just 1 didn’t succeed). But many other schools fared worse, with pass rates below 80% and even below 70% for some. One school with a fairly well-established history had a pass rate of only 64.4% among the 264 first-time test takers last year.
One wonders about these large differences in success rates between the colleges. You might think that newer schools would be at a disadvantage, as they have fewer years of experience with which to work. School size doesn’t seem to be a strong factor either. University of Florida had 263 first-time takers with a fantastic pass rate of 94%. A smaller college with just 65 takers had a pass rate was only 75%.
I suppose it is possible that some schools may be accepting and passing students that are not really academically qualified for the rigors of the NAPLEX exam. Maybe the new format caught some schools by surprise. Whatever the reason, I have no doubt that those schools who performed more poorly will be making some adjustments to their curriculum in the months ahead.
For pharmacists concerned about the job market, it is interesting to see how the total number of test-takers has risen over the years. In 2006, there was just over 9,000 national attempts. In 2016 there over 15,500 attempts. Although the pass rate dropped and only about 13,240 new pharmacists were licensed (assuming they passed their respective state law exams), this number was not a decrease in new pharmacists for the profession over previous years.
As a pharmacist concerned about the quality of our educational programs, and one who has the privilege of serving as a preceptor as well, I will admit that the overall drop in pass rates gives me something to think about. We all have a responsibility to train the next generation of pharmacists well, for whatever career path they ultimately choose. For those who worked hard, studied well, but did not pass the exam, I sincerely encourage you to try, try again.
Reference
1. National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. NAPLEX 2016 Pass Rates. NABP website. https://nabp.pharmacy/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2016-NAPLEX-Pass-Rates.pdf. Accessed September 12, 2017.
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Aren't there some states that don't play nice with regard to reciprocating licenses? I want to say California comes to mind??? If I'm thinking correctly then you would have to do so if moving there.
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Yeah California does that. I think if you had taken the NAPLEX before 2003 then you would need to retake it.
Any other state that does this?
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Some states retialated against cali and don't take reciprocating from cali lol
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I think my state is one of them.
If I'm not mistaken that's how I heard about it in the first place.What states do this?
lol i don't think i want to ever take it again after i have passed it
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Yes, I did take the "old" naplex. I don't know if the "new" naplex was harder, but I definitely felt A LOT more prepared for the new naplex. For the old naplex, I had no sense of how to study, nor what to expect. The old naplex is in the past now and there is no need to worry about the old naplex. Just study as much as you can and prep as much as you can.
HAHA...that is crazy!!
That is what I have. Is there another one?
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I liked Tarascon's Pocket Pharmacopeia to study for the Naplex-classic shirt pocket edition. I get it every year to this day from Amazon. We have anywhere from one to three interns per year and they seem to appreciate it to get ready for the boards.
what did you use for math/calculation?
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They have the best math flashcards! I breezed through the math with those cards. I still have them actually.
Don't tell me you are still using them!
Not exactly on topic, but I am really interested in seeing the NAPLEX results for this year. There was a pretty big dip last year, but not everyone took the new exam. Lower standards and a harder licensing exam.. will it be a bloodbath, or will the schools that did poorly previously somehow get it together with the mother of all cram sessions?
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I still don't think it's much of the schools fault, as you are saying. I am curious to see the new stats though.
Imo, it's the crop of students. I knew a lot of *******es in the class ahead of me, therefore I was not surprised in the least to see their ****ty pass rate.
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