I Passed! -How to Pass NAPLEX and More

After a long 5 weeks of intense studying I am proud to announce I passed my NAPLEX! 

Yes…It is the greatest feeling in the world getting it out of the way as my anxiety was quite high about this exam. I took the exam on Monday and received my result on Thursday around 12:50 PM. Here are some points about my experience with the NAPLEX, how I studied and advice I would share to others regarding the exam. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and lets begin!

Study Plan and Method

I heard from many people RxPrep would prepare you for the exam, so I bit my tongue and invested in the book, online quiz bank and videos. Did it prepare me for the exam? YES it did! In fact it may have over prepared me, but I personally feel it is better to be over prepared than under prepared, because you could be asked anything. I mean it.. many of the questions are varied and random. To prepare I started practicing calculations about 2 months in advance of my actual exam date. Then about 5 weeks before my exam I started a rigorous study plan to ensure I would go through the entire book at least once. I left myself 6 days after going through the entire book to review topics I knew for sure to expect on the exam and to practice calculations. The topics I focused on mainly during my review was compounding (USP 795, 797, 800), drug references, bio-statistics, infectious disease, HIV (especially the components in each drug & class side effects), oncology ADRs, brand names of Top 200 drugs, brand name drugs used in Asthma, COPD, Diabetes and Hypertension and of course more calculations.

On the topic of Pre-NAPLEX, I completed both of the Pre-NAPLEX exams NABP provides. I did my first Pre-NAPLEX before I started my rigorous study schedule, only because it was required from my school, and I ended up with a score of 85 which was a passing score. You would think I would’ve felt comfortable but nope, I knew the NAPLEX was an exam not to take too lightly. So after 4 weeks of rigorous studying I did the second Pre-NAPLEX and obtained a 108. The Pre-NAPLEX definitely helped me identify where my weaknesses were and I made sure to touch up on those during my review. On the actual exam I passed with triple digits! I would definitely say that Pre-NAPLEX gives you a good sense of how well you will do on the actual exam and the question formats are somewhat similar between both exams.

Overall I spent at least 6 hours everyday just to get used to sitting down in one place for 6 hours ( like the duration of the exam). I also made sure to take time for myself too. After I finished studying I would workout to blow off steam or catch up on some Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. It is important to have some balance mainly for your mental health. You want to go into that exam not only prepared knowledge wise, but also mentally. “Mind over matter” as I like to say.

One big thing I made sure to incorporate in my study schedule was practicing questions. After reading a chapter in the RxPrep book I would immediately do the quiz bank for that chapter to see how much I truly retained. If there was something I answered incorrectly, I would utilize the “feedback mode” and write down on a flashcard what I answered incorrectly and why. I would also utilize my flash cards to write down important key information and names of drugs I struggled to remember, most especially the combination drugs, for example Xultophy for diabetes.

For calculations I created an equation sheet for myself of important equations I needed to know off the top of my head for the exam. This included equations for calculating corrected phenytoin, pH for a weak acid or weak base, ionization, E-value and more. Every day I studied I look at this sheet so it was ingrained in my head.

NAPLEX Exam Experience

*Note due to the non-disclosure act I cannot refer to any specifics about the actual exam

The nerves really started to hit me the night before the exam, but I tried my best to calm my nerves and reassure myself that I was well prepared. I knew concentration/alertness would be important for me so I made sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Before you start the exam there is a process where you present your 2 forms of ID, they do a palm vein scan and take a picture of you. They do provide you with a locker to keep any belongings that you cannot bring into the exam room which was nice. The only thing you can bring into the exam room is your locker key and drivers license.

Halfway through the exam I felt myself getting a bit tired, so I made sure to take advantage of my break to grab a drink of water and to use the washroom.

They provide you with an optional small handheld calculator which I utilized throughout the whole exam, mainly because i’m not a fan of virtual calculators.

Time was not an issue for me with this exam, when I left I still had about 1 hour 47 minutes remaining till my exam duration was complete. I would say, do not spend more than 1 minute 45 seconds on a question or you COULD possibly run out of time. I spent a bit more time on my calculation questions to ensure I did not make a mistake and less time on multiple choice questions. There was some questions I could easily answer in like 10 seconds.

Overall I walked out of the exam on a positive note and I felt I did okay, but there is always that feeling of doubt I couldn’t ignore.

My Personal Advice 

• I highly recommend to do pre-NAPLEX I feel it is quite accurate how you will do on the exam
• Try to review as much as you can of all topics, but topics I would say you must definitely look over before the exam are: Infectious Diseases (including opportunistic infections), HIV, Oncology, Hypertension, Diabetes, Compounding, Drug references, Bio-statistics and calculations.
• Try to have a study buddy or study group , I found it was extremely helpful for retaining knowledge and for motivation.
• Get a good night sleep the night before and try not to review too much the day before. You should just be looking at flashcards and relaxing. In fact I was watching The Flash and going through my FLASHcards (hehe).
• Read the questions CAREFULLY, sometimes our eyes tend to read what we want to see and not what is actually there
• Be mindful of units in calculation questions
• Do NOT sleep on knowing your USP 795, 797 and 800; Also drug references and Biostats
• Ensure before-hand that your ID’s match the name on your NABP profile! If they do not, you will not be allowed to take the exam!

Overall I hope this information was useful for someone out there! Good luck to all the future test takers, you can do it! If you would like to be notified of future blog posts go ahead and subscribe on the right-hand side of the website!