NAPLEX Question of the Week: Know your resources

As we turn the page on Thanksgiving break and begin in December, it is important to take a step now to plan well for using your resources.
NAPLEX Question of the Week: Know your resources
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I hope and pray everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. As we head into the new year (can you believe it is December?) I would like to take this week to discuss resources to use when preparing for the NAPLEX. The old expression is that when you fail to plan you plan to fail. Let's not do that shall we? Here are two good recommendations for resources to help you prepare well:

1. NAPLEX Candidate Application Bulletin: While this gives details direct from NABP on how to apply to take the exam, it also contains valuable information on what types of questions will be on the examination (question format) as well as areas covered on the exam (known as competency statements). It is crucial to spend some time reading over this so you will have "eyes wide open" as you prepare for the exam. My hunch is once you read some of the competency statements you will realize some areas you need refreshing on that were not a large part of your rotations during your last year.

The most recent guide can be found here: https://nabp.pharmacy/programs...

2. AccessPharmacy: Most pharmacy schools have access to this website which is a comprehensive database by McGraw-Hill which has several valuable resources for studying for the NAPLEX. There is a "NAPLEX Central" tab at the top of the initial webpage that will direct you to two of these resources:

First, there is the NAPLEX Review Guide (3rd edition). I served as Associate Editor along with the Chief Editor Scott Sutton for this review guide. We developed this guide with the student in mind! First, the vast majority of chapters can be read in 10 minutes or less. Second, there are literally thousands of questions that have not only the correct answer, but detailed rationale for both correct and incorrect answers. A number of our authors are faculty in schools of pharmacy across the country so have significant experience in teaching/mentoring through question/answer feedback.

Second, there is the NAPLEX online question bank. Our team believes the best way to prepare for the exam is to practice as many questions as possible. This is the most efficient way to reveal strengths and weaknesses that will help direct your studying. Additionally, once you answer a question, you will see how others across the platform did on the question providing you with some sense of question difficulty.

The months are passing quickly so formulating a plan is critical! Have a great week!

Dr. B


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