PharmacyMan14
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- Sep 24, 2018
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Hi guys,
SD helped me a lot when it came to studying advice prior to taking my NAPLEX exam. I thought I'd pay it forward and offer some studying advice based on my own experience.
A little about me: I was an aggressively average student with a 3.1 gpa from a reputable pharmacy program. My budget was limited, so I chose my study materials carefully. These included mostly RxPrep (the book) and minimalist/pharmacist posts. If I can do it, please believe that you are totally capable of passing, too!
The recommendations in many posts to know your calculations, biostats, and compounding (nonsterile, sterile, hazardous) are spot on- these concepts are ESSENTIAL. Rx prep was perfect for the calculations practice, but not necessarily enough for compounding and biostats. To supplement the RxPrep book, I used an awesome review of 1000+ questions, a NAPLEX practice question workbook by Renee Bonsell. This book is available on Amazon as a digital copy for only $3 (apple products/kindle), or the book itself is about $60. These questions helped me understand the concepts of compounding and biostats MUCH better by doing the practice questions. One of the most important things to know about biostats is WHEN confidence intervals are SIGNIFICANT. It is important for compounding to know about what purpose EXCIPIENTS serve in the process.
Other categories that were common question material include ID, HIV, Onco, and Psych. Among these, ID questions came up the most. This was one of my weaker areas in school and I was overwhelmed with the amount of material to review. In addition to RxPrep, I watched some youtube videos, "Infectious diseases: Antibiotic Ladder by OnlineMedEd" and "HIV/AIDs drugs made insanely easy by Shan Nanji," and these were EXTREMELY helpful and included high yield content for the exam. The best part is they're both pretty short! I highly recommend watching both of videos until you know the content well enough to draw out the antibiotic ladder by yourself and repeat everything Shan Nanji says without his prompts. Know HIV drug generic and brand names, ESPECIALLY for combination products. For ONCO, know the chemo man and understand how to manage side effects, especially nausea. For psych, make sure you focus on side effects! Be ready to recommend a certain med for a certain case, such as a patient who wants to lose weight or someone that wants to avoid sexual dysfunction, etc.
For the remaining topics, I would recommend focusing on grouping drugs together whenever you can to remember mechanism of action, side effects, and contraindications. Definitely spend some time reviewing any weak areas you have, and try to focus on limiting this review to broad information, so that you can get back to reviewing the CORE areas listed above.
I stressed myself out way more than I needed to for the NAPLEX, even as a mediocre student, so please believe in yourself and understand that you already know most of what you need to pass. Focus on the key areas above and you will be good to go! Best of luck!!!
SD helped me a lot when it came to studying advice prior to taking my NAPLEX exam. I thought I'd pay it forward and offer some studying advice based on my own experience.
A little about me: I was an aggressively average student with a 3.1 gpa from a reputable pharmacy program. My budget was limited, so I chose my study materials carefully. These included mostly RxPrep (the book) and minimalist/pharmacist posts. If I can do it, please believe that you are totally capable of passing, too!
The recommendations in many posts to know your calculations, biostats, and compounding (nonsterile, sterile, hazardous) are spot on- these concepts are ESSENTIAL. Rx prep was perfect for the calculations practice, but not necessarily enough for compounding and biostats. To supplement the RxPrep book, I used an awesome review of 1000+ questions, a NAPLEX practice question workbook by Renee Bonsell. This book is available on Amazon as a digital copy for only $3 (apple products/kindle), or the book itself is about $60. These questions helped me understand the concepts of compounding and biostats MUCH better by doing the practice questions. One of the most important things to know about biostats is WHEN confidence intervals are SIGNIFICANT. It is important for compounding to know about what purpose EXCIPIENTS serve in the process.
Other categories that were common question material include ID, HIV, Onco, and Psych. Among these, ID questions came up the most. This was one of my weaker areas in school and I was overwhelmed with the amount of material to review. In addition to RxPrep, I watched some youtube videos, "Infectious diseases: Antibiotic Ladder by OnlineMedEd" and "HIV/AIDs drugs made insanely easy by Shan Nanji," and these were EXTREMELY helpful and included high yield content for the exam. The best part is they're both pretty short! I highly recommend watching both of videos until you know the content well enough to draw out the antibiotic ladder by yourself and repeat everything Shan Nanji says without his prompts. Know HIV drug generic and brand names, ESPECIALLY for combination products. For ONCO, know the chemo man and understand how to manage side effects, especially nausea. For psych, make sure you focus on side effects! Be ready to recommend a certain med for a certain case, such as a patient who wants to lose weight or someone that wants to avoid sexual dysfunction, etc.
For the remaining topics, I would recommend focusing on grouping drugs together whenever you can to remember mechanism of action, side effects, and contraindications. Definitely spend some time reviewing any weak areas you have, and try to focus on limiting this review to broad information, so that you can get back to reviewing the CORE areas listed above.
I stressed myself out way more than I needed to for the NAPLEX, even as a mediocre student, so please believe in yourself and understand that you already know most of what you need to pass. Focus on the key areas above and you will be good to go! Best of luck!!!
