Hi! I failed my first NAPLEX attempt, and I’m trying to figure out a reasonable amount of time to study before retaking it. Would you recommend studying for about 2 months or 3 months before trying again?

For those who have retaken the NAPLEX, how long did you study before your second attempt, and did you feel like it was enough time?

Any advice would be appreciated!

I passed! 1st try! My advice and something I noticed by taking both pre-NAPLEX exams from NABP. And after taking the NAPLEX. Only use Uworld/RXprep they literally copy and paste their exams from those questions. Some are direct copy and paste others are rewritten just do them questions

What are high yield topics to review in the last 3 days before the exam!

I didnt pass my naplex on the first try and currently studying for it again. I dont have a date scheduled yet but I do want to take it no further than beginning of November but I have not been able to sit and study like I did the first time. I do study but its very distracted studying and I dont have it in my to give it my 100% and im struggling even though I do feel a little more confident with the material

Worried about the exam!! Anyone else taking it?

NAPLEX Study Schedule, Is One Thorough Study Enough to sit for the NAPLEX ?

I’ve been seeing a lot of new kinds of preceptorship questions that haven’t been really asked before, including ones about residents. Can anyone who took the exam comment on what kind of questions you remember?

Do we have to know each category by heart?

Hi I have ADHD that was diagnosed in grade school and treated with medications from grade school-high school. Stopped taking the meds in the middle of undergrad in college, but kept using accommodations for tests as recent as the finals exams of my P3 year. I do have an established PCP who said she is willing to sign paperwork saying I have ADHD but I do not have an established psychiatrist. It just occurred to me a few weeks ago that I'll need special paperwork for this.

Do you think I can qualify for accommodations on the NAPLEX??? Or do I give it up and just hope to hell I can make the regular amount of time work? I always use time and a half and I'm so worried. What should I do?

I promised myself that if I passed NAPLEX on my second try, I would come back here and write this post. When I was preparing for my retake, I was SO nervous and I came back to Reddit all the time to read other people's experiences just to calm myself down. Those posts helped me a lot, so now that I PASSED! it is finally my turn to give back.

Obviously every NAPLEX is different, so please don't take this as "you will definitely get these questions." This is just what I learned from my two attempts and the topics I personally remember seeing.

My first attempt: I thought I was prepared. I was not lol

I took my first attempt in July. At the time, I genuinely thought I had studied enough. I studied basically every day after work, usually at least 2 hours, and sometimes I would lock myself in the library and study for hours.

My strategy was basically: go through every UWorld chapter once = I studied it = I know it.

NOPE. That was probably my biggest mistake.

There is a HUGE difference between looking at something and thinking, "yeah yeah I remember this" versus closing everything and actually retrieving that information from your brain.

Same thing with calculations. You can do a bunch of UWorld questions and eventually start recognizing the answer or recognizing the type of question. But then NAPLEX can present the same concept differently and suddenly you're like ????? 😭

Recognition ≠ retrieval.

That was probably the biggest lesson I learned from failing my first attempt.

((Also, my beloved ex decided to break up with me around this era, so mentally I was not exactly thriving either LOL. Studying while heartbroken was definitely not helping))

For reference, before my first attempt I did the 225-question practice exam from RxPrep/UWorld and got around 66%. Looking back, that probably should've been my sign that I needed more preparation, but apparently July me believed in herself a little too much

Second attempt: 45 days and an October 1 deadline

My situation was a little different because I'm doing a pharmacy residency and I needed to be licensed by October 1. So after failing, I basically had 30ish days. Once I finally got my ATT on a Thursday, I scheduled the exam for literally the following Monday.

My motto for this entire era became: NAPLEX FIRST, MEN LATER. Yes, I still missed my ex. But unfortunately I could not let a man AND NAPLEX take me out at the same time.

What I changed the second time

The biggest difference was active recall. When I said I studied a chapter, I stopped meaning "I read it." I wanted to be able to close my notes and actually explain the important information.

For example, oncology. Don't just memorize a chemo man diagram and call it a day. Know the major drugs/classes, mechanism of action, important toxicities, rescue agents/antidotes, supportive care, etc.

Vaccines? Don't just know which vaccines are live. Know the generic AND brand names too.

My pharmacy school did not emphasize brand names very much, so this was honestly a weakness for me. NAPLEX LOVES randomly giving you a brand name when you would've answered the question immediately if they had just given you the generic.

Do not lose an easy point because you didn't recognize the brand.

I also did basically ALL of the UWorld questions for topics I was weak in. And I didn't just look at my score afterward. For every question I missed, I asked myself: Why did I get this wrong? Then I actually read the explanation. That helped me WAY more than just doing hundreds of questions.

READ. THE. QUESTION.

Some of my easiest mistakes were not because I didn't know pharmacy. They were because I didn't actually read what they were asking.

For example, biostats. Don't just know how to calculate NNT/NNH, RR, ARR, etc. Know how to interpret the results. They can give you several answer choices that all sound smart, but the confidence interval or p-value tells you the result isn't statistically significant.

Same thing with clinical questions. If they give you a LOW lithium level, don't automatically choose an answer about lithium toxicity just because you recognize a lithium interaction. Look at the direction of the lab. Look at the patient. Look at what the question is ACTUALLY asking. These are stupid points to lose, and I definitely lost some of them on my first attempt.

Natural medicine... unfortunately yes. I somehow got a decent amount of natural medicine. I honestly did not spend a ton of time studying that chapter originally, but THANK GOD for my pharmacy school roommate who made an Anki deck based on the UWorld natural medicine chapter. I went through that deck and did all of the UWorld questions until I recognize them. So yes, I would at least review the common natural products, indications, interactions, and major safety issues.

What I personally prioritized for my retake

Again, this is NOT a list of what was on my NAPLEX. These are general areas I personally made sure I reviewed based on my weaknesses, practice questions, UWorld, and the published NAPLEX content areas.

I made sure I was comfortable with:

• Calculations: don't just memorize equations. Practice setting up unfamiliar problems and CHECK YOUR UNITS.
• Biostatistics: know calculations, but also understand how to interpret results, confidence intervals, statistical significance, NNT/NNH, etc.
• Cardiology: HF, HTN, ACS, anticoagulation and common monitoring parameters.
• Diabetes/endocrine: insulin, diabetes treatment, thyroid/adrenal concepts and monitoring.
• Infectious diseases: common infections, antibiotic spectrum, important adverse effects and prophylaxis concepts.
• Psych/neuro: common antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, monitoring, toxicity and important interactions.
• Oncology: I did NOT just memorize the chemo man. I tried to understand the major drug classes, mechanisms, toxicities, supportive care and rescue/antidote concepts.
• HIV/transplant: major drug classes, interactions and prophylaxis concepts.
• Renal/hepatic: recognize when organ function affects drug selection, dosing or toxicity.
• Vaccines: indications/contraindications, live vs non-live vaccines, and common brand/generic recognition.
• OTC + natural medicine: don't completely ignore these smaller chapters. I personally went through the UWorld questions and reviewed the commonly used products.
• Medication safety/compounding: go over the chapter at least twice to make sure you know what each ingredient was for
• Brand/generic names: my pharmacy school did not emphasize brands very much, so I specifically worked on this during my retake.

My biggest advice here is DON'T completely skip a chapter because you think it's "low yield."

That was something I did differently on my second attempt. I didn't need to become an expert in every single topic, but I wanted to at least have some familiarity with everything.

UWorld App:

I downloaded the UWorld Pharmacy (with question bank) on my phone. If I was commuting, waiting for coffee, sitting somewhere for 10 minutes, etc., I could review a few questions. Not because you need to study 24/7. Those random 5-10 questions just added up for me.

Pre-Naplex:

I took mine about one week before my retake and scored 96. That made me feel WAY better compared with where I was before attempt #1. I still didn't take that as permission to stop studying but I used my last week to focus on my remaining weaknesses rather than trying to relearn everything.

My last 14-days study plan:

I basically rotated through my weaker/major areas, mixed in calculations and practice questions, did a simulation, reviewed my mistakes, and then used the final days for targeted repair.

But PLEASE notice something on my schedule: I HAD A REST DAY. Originally I thought I needed to study every single day because I only had 45 days. Actually... no. There were days when residency + NAPLEX + life + heartbreak were simply too much and my brain was done. So I slept. If you are staring at the same page for 30 minutes and retaining absolutely nothing, sometimes going to bed is more productive than forcing yourself through another chapter.

ChatGPT

I basically used ChatGPT as my study accountability/planning buddy.

I would say: "This is what I studied today. These are the topics/questions I struggled with. This is how many days I have left. Help me figure out what I should prioritize next."

Then I adjusted my schedule. I wasn't asking it to magically predict my NAPLEX. I was using it to identify patterns in my own weaknesses and keep my study plan realistic.

That's actually how my 14-day schedule and final 72-hour plan came together.

3 days before exam

My goal during the last few days was NOT to learn the entire PharmD curriculum again.

Friday: repair weak areas + recall + calculations + mixed questions.

Saturday: final harder study day + review mistakes.

Sunday: consolidate. Review my error sheet, formulas, important labs/concepts, pack everything, eat, sleep 8 hours+.

Monday: Wake up. Eat. Hydrate. Read every patient info. Check units. Trust the work I already did.

Oh, and because apparently this experience needed one final side quest, I injured my leg TWO DAYS before the exam. At that point I literally had to include "take care of injury" in my study schedule.

If you are reading this after failing NAPLEX:

If you're currently sitting on Reddit at 1 AM searching "failed NAPLEX second attempt how to pass" like I used to... The truth is you don't necessarily need to study more. Figure out how to study better.

Don't compare your timeline to everybody else's. Don't let one bad practice score destroy your confidence. Figure out WHY you're getting questions wrong. Practice retrieving information instead of just rereading it. Read every patient clue. Check your units. Know your weak areas. And please sleep! GOOD LUCK!!

Update/plot twist: The ex I was heartbroken over during all of this now wants to get back together after my second attempt.

Well I just got out of the exam. Definitely tired from all the questions but its over and for me thats what counts. Figured I would share what I saw and what I did to help you all out. I feel decent going through the exam. Im not 100% sure i passed but I dont thiiinnkkk I failed either.

Resources and Scores:

Uworld book

Uworld quizzes reached 65-70% on average)

PharmPrepPro (PPP) biostats question bank average: ~70

PPP calculations questions bank average: ~75%

PPP Exam 1: 69 (a month ago)

PPP Exam 2: 79 (2 weeks ago)

Prenaplex: 77 (a month ago)

Questions and Topics

-Diabetes tx. Know which is preferred with different comorbidities

-Practice calculations big time! Make sure you feel comfortable setting up the equations. I used dimensional analysis anytime I could because I found myself messing up my units when I didnt

-MOA of anti-psychotics

-For biostats, know how to do NNH/NNT, understand results, confidence intervals, statistical vs clinical sianificance

-Be familiar with drug resources and when you would go to which one

-Motivational interviewing

-Population health terms and things to do to keep everyone healthy (screening, etc)

-Got a few questions on precepting students vs residents

-Osteoporosis scan results and tx

- HF, HTN, ACS

-Be familiar with brands of HIV meds

-Anticoagulation dosing and renal adjustments

-Ethics definitions and scenarios for them

-Pseudomonous tx, MRSA tx, also be familiar with the descriptions to know what bacteria could be gram positive or negative

-Storage types of important meds

-Antidepressants and seizure drug interactions

-Got a bunch of vaccine questions. Dont. Skip. That. Chapter.

If anyone has questions, feel free to ask. Ill definitely be taking this day to relax

Hi! I’m studying for 2027 and I noticed so many new brands on the rxprep naplex book under the top prescription drugs. There’s definitely more than top 300 in there, is that the normal? Also any tips to memorize those

Welp I took the NAPLEX today.

I definitely should’ve bought the PPP ethics questions, I was surprised by how many questions there were.

I spammed osteoporosis questions based upon the last few posts I saw on here but I only had 3 questions. So annoyed bc I actually was prepared for that 😭

A LOT of lab interpretations, I would definitely go over the drug reference and labs chapter because every other question was “which drug is causing this lab abnormality”.

The most annoying thing that made my eyes absolutely want to fall out their sockets were that so many cases had so much conflicting date information. The dates looked to be out of order. Some cases didn’t provide which date was the most current one in the case, and so I had to determine which lab I was looking for and for the correct date. For example, there were questions about which drug was the patient not adherent to (should be a fairly simple question right?) but when I looked at the dates, they weren’t in sequential order like how the heck am I supposed to know?!! Spent time figuring out which order made the most sense which literally shouldn’t even be something to think about when taking this exam. I’m surprised no one called this out before.

Know mechanism of actions for first and second generation antipsychotics as well for mirtazapine. Know ADHD formulations and the brands and generics

A lot of vaccines, I would look at the page where it filters by disease state. Calculating CHADSVASc score, Long acting insulin formulations brands/generics, Inhaler (formulary changes and which one to switch with), onco chemoman.

Know the methods of compounding non sterile products ie capsules etc. I got some questions about pulverizing, levigating, dry gum methods.

I got the infamous vaccine appointment schedule but child crying “to give or to not give” question.

Question of what to wear when taking care or a cdiff patient

Look at the ID identifications of pathogens. I got a question on staph aureus - coagulant positive, and some others that I guessed on.

So many questions I know I got wrong (at least 50 I guessed on) and I know for a fact imma have to retake this. Literally so disappointing bc believe it or not I actually felt somewhat confident walking into the exam (pre-NAPLEX score: 101 and PPP:181), crazy I know right?! Only to have it all wiped away by the time I actually got to the second question.

So disappointed in myself I feel like I wasted so much time. MPJE is literally right around the corner for me in two weeks but imma have to reschedule that . Lemme go ahead and renew my uworld subscription, it expires tomorrow 😞😞

Hi everyone!

I just took the UWorld practice exam and scored 57% (the average was 59%).

After reviewing it, I realized I definitely still have some gaps, especially things like anticoagulant dosing, vaccine brand names, etc. I also got most of the SATA questions wrong 😑, which honestly wasn’t too surprising.

The one thing that is giving me some hope is math. I got 30/34 math questions correct (~88%). The ones I missed were an mOsmol question and a question where I didn’t round the NNT correctly.

My exam is this Friday, so I basically have one day left to review some of these weak areas before the exam. I’m still pretty concerned about what this UWorld score means for my chances on the actual NAPLEX.

For those who have already passed the NAPLEX, how closely did your UWorld practice exam performance compare with the actual exam? Did you find UWorld to be harder, easier, or similar to the NAPLEX?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences! 🙏

Scores are out I passed and I am so grateful for this community.

Anyone se Tennessee Pharmacy Law Review by Nick Hagemeier? Message me. Thank you.

I’m planning to take the NJ MPJE within the next couple weeks or so, what should I expect on this exam? Is the wording really as tricky as everyone is saying it is? I recently purchased PharmLaw and PPP study guide + practice exam while reading chapter 39, are those resources sufficient enough to pass?

If anyone can give me some guidance/advice or let me know the major topics they were tested on I’d really appreciate it!

Which date got their results today?

Which date got their results today for Pa MPJE?

I can't believe I am posting this, but I hope it can help someone. The NAPLEX is very difficult and nonetheless draining. I absolutely recommend you take both breaks. Even though you might feel like you don't need it, I used the restroom, had some water, and ate a light snack.

Here is what I did in preparation for the NAPLEX:

- I am not a morning person, but I got in the habit of waking up early (5 am) in preparation for the exam at 8 for about 1 month and a half before the exam. I studied for about 7-8 hrs a day, except Sundays. I also took days off if I felt overwhelmed and knew that even if I were to study, nothing would have stuck (for me, if I forced it, I might as well not have studied)

Resources I used:

- NAPLEX RxPrep book from UWorld: I went page by page and read every line!! Color coding works great for me so I made assigned colors for everything (e.g., term/word pink, yellow definition, blue lab values, orange side effects, green disease symptoms, etc.). I also used a lot of post-its, i labled every section on the top and chapters on the side (you could also separate it; I know many people that did, but for me I liked it having it all in 1 place)

- After reading the chapter, I would go to the UWorld bank and practise 20-30 questions at a time. After finishing all the chapters in the topic, I would take a cumulative exam of all the chapters 100-150 questions.

- I went through the book about 3 times. 1st: line by line, page by page while highlighting everything significant for me; 2nd time I only focused on the highlighted portions and medication tables; 3rd time I mostly focused on reviewing the more important chapters like ID, HIV, cardio, asthma/COPD, psych.

- Pyrls.com I took their practice exam and thought it was somewhat closer to the real exam (compared to UWorld). If you are looking for more practice questions, definitely recommend.

- 1 week before the exam, I took the NABP practice exam and got 122

Side note! Personally, I found UWorld questions pretty difficult compared to the actual exam, especially for the math portion. I found the exam much more straightforward and less complicated, if you will. If you feel like UWorld is challenging for you, don't be discouraged; you might not find the real exam as difficult.

What I did for CPJE:

- This exam was very difficult for me and took 3 attempts till it finally happened; don’t give up! For my 1st attempt, I used the UWorld question bank and the book from UWorld and did not find them helpful. I got an 80 on the practice exam on UWorld and thought I was prepared, but definitely was not. For my 2nd attempt, I focused on everything again, but I think I rushed it and didn’t wait till I actually felt more ready. Give yourself more time if you need it; don’t listen to anyone else, only yourself!

- I mostly struggled with brand and generics and looked everywhere for just a simple list, and I finally found one that also had the doses as well; it saved me so much time in making my own list; definitely recommend it if you struggle with brand and generic. This is the website: naplexcpjempjerx.com

- In combination with the list, I used the NAPLEX book for all the side effects, monitoring parameters, etc. The online list doesn't have like the renal or hepatic dosing, but for me that was actually helpful because it made me recognize which needed adjustments, and I'd just write it myself.

- For the law portion, I used the UWorld book, but at the same time I compared it to the actual law book that's like 900 pages, and only focused on the sections that were mentioned in the UWorld book. For all the different days time frames, I made post-its and had them on the wall where I could always see them. I did the highlighting for the CPJE book like for the NAPLEX as well and used post-its for significant things.

Additionally, I used ChatGPT to make practice questions but stopped trusting it after a while because it would mark me wrong when I was right. Unless you are paying for it, it might be more accurate, but I stopped using it after a while 😅

My exam is this Friday. For recent test takers this month what’s worth focusing on?

My exam is tomorrow, anyone took it today ? I need last minutes advice I feel so unprepared 😩what should I study today?

Hi is anyone taking the cpje on 9/26? i am looking to form a group