A future pharmacist may have spent 4 years getting a Bachelor’s degree, possibly in either biology or chemistry. And then they spend 4 more grueling years of study in Pharmacy school, 4 years that are not easy, but doable if a student really applies to him or herself.

Graduation at hand, there’s nothing stopping them. Nothing, of course, except the NAPLEX exam, the North American Pharmacist Licensure exam, a test every pharmacist must pass to get licensed.

Consisting of 185 questions, the test is divided up into three sections:

• Section 1.Assure Safe and Effective Therapeutic Outcomes (approximately 56 percent of the exam)
• Section 2.Assess Safe and Accurate Preparation and Dispensing of Medication (approximately 33r percent, of the exam )
• Section 3.Recommend, and Provide Health Care Information That Promotes Public Health (approximately 11 percent of the test.

A potential pharmacist must score approximately 60 percent of the test questions to score the minimum of 75 to pass (based on a 0 to 150 Score)

Overall, the passing rate is quite high, with approximately 93 percent passing, however, even the best students often feel unprepared.

One method, of course, is to study NAPLEX review questions. Studying, NAPLEX review questions. if they mirror current tests (not tests 10 years old ) not only give students a sense of what to expect in the exam but in many ways, relieves anxiety.

The problem for the majority of pharmacy graduates is not that they don’t know the material, but rather that they know too much. The NAPLEX simply provides a bare minimum of knowledge pharmacists will need to know in their future profession.

As a consequence, many pharmacy graduates may only need to pay for classic means of learning such as review questions and flashcards.

At the same time, as nearly every education authority has been saying for years, not everyone learns the same.

In many ways, students paying for review courses in the NAPLEX are like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Some review courses do not have enough in them to really be called an effective review, some reviews (at an expensive rate mind you,) include everything under the sun and some are just right.

For those in the middle category, a combination of classical reviews, together with video lectures are often the best.

It should be noticed that video modules from a NAPLEX review provider are often only around 10 or 15 minutes long, and are designed to help answer and clarify the type of question found on the NAPLEX exam. The good ones, at least, will not simply give you random video content which won’t help you pass the test.

The testing method for the NAPLEX

It should also be noted that the NAPLEX testing method is different than most people have experienced. The NAPLEX test is computer-adaptive. This means a response to one question will determine the type of question that appears next.

Fundamentally, if you get the first five right, the questions will become significantly more difficult until a test applicant starts to report the wrong answers.

In addition, there is no skipping to the next question. An applicant must answer every question in order.

Accuracy counts

Because the test is computer-adaptive, it is very important, especially in the first third of the test, to be as accurate as possible. Slow down to make sure you fully understand the question (perhaps read it twice) and carefully choose your answer.

Learn the process of elimination

Everyone understands the process of elimination when dealing with the test, however in reviewing, pay just as much attention to review questions that are right as those that turn out to be wrong. Patterns may develop giving the test taker a real edge as to how the test operates.

Edward Bertrand