The Naplex: RESULT!!!!!!!

Wednesday 28th October 2009 Before I get to my result I just want to review for a moment the thought processes that have been running through my head since I sat the Naplex. Firstly, and i've probably said this already, the exam was HORRIBLE! It was the most difficult exam I have sat since I was at University back in the late 1980's, and I felt like I was totally unprepared for what came up in the exam. I felt that I had basically learnt all the wrong stuff. Although I read the whole of APhA, and I endorse that book as the best study guide that I had, it really didn't help in terms of answering the questions that came up on the exam, or to put in more correctly, it failed to add focus to the correct information worthy of studying over the other sections or areas that weren't as exam-important. Thus, I spent my revision time, for example, reading the chapter on hypertension, or diabetes or HIV, which are all absolute must-learn sections, but the questions that appeared weren't general information questions, they were all super-specific single issue items of knowledge, such as knowing a particular side-effect of a particular drug, knowing which specific drug should or should not be given to a patient with a specific co-morbidity, or which particular drug was the second line drug of choice if the patient couldn't tolerate the first line therapy - none of this sort of specific factual information was studied with emphasis in any way during my revision stage. That isn't to say I didn't flick my eye across the information, I probably did - it is all in APhA for sure - I just had no idea before the exam that that was the sort of knowledge I should have been focusing on, rather than the broader concepts I had incorrectly assumed might be important to know, going in to the test. On the plus side I had 18 years of pharmacy experience and knowledge behind me, which I am sure must have counted for something in the test. Next, it is worth mentioning that for a foreign pharmacist, over and above a home-grown US-pharmacy graduate, there are far more consequences to the possibility of not passing the exams first time. That is not to say that US-graduate pharmacist interns don't feel the stress - I am sure they do - they certainly have (most of them) huge financial consequences weighing down on them as they sit these exams; but for the foreign pharmacists there are powerful threats of potentially having to give up the dream of living in America and returning home, having spent years and years moving towards the reality of becoming an American pharmacist, and for most of us a considerable amount of money invested in that plan too. For me, I am not ashamed to say, I had spent my entire life-savings getting to the point of sitting these exams, and as far as I was concerned I really couldn't see a way out if I had found I was not up to the final challenge of passing the Naplex and the CPJE. The consequences, to put it bluntly, didn't bear thinking about. Finally, I had received a very carefully worded letter from my employer which phrased the potential consequence of failure in stark terms which said - if I didn't pass both exams within 90-days of completing my 1500 intern hours, there was the chance that they would review my continued employment with the company. Under normal circumstances that might appear as nothing more than a option that may never be actioned, but in todays economy (knowing certain things that I do), it wouldn't surprise me if they did use that options, although I have never heard of them doing so, and I do know people that have failed the CPJE and did stay with the company until they re-sat - but it added to the fear nonetheless. Ok, having got that all off my chest, so everyone is quite clear how I felt when I got home this evening and found the letter from the Naplex in the post box, I got the courage to open the envelope and it read as follows: Your score is reported as a scaled score. A minimum scaled score of 75 is required to pass this examination. Your Total Scaled Score is: 88 Congratulations. You have passed the Naplex. And now I have an even longer wait until I get the result from the CPJE. But if there was a tragedy and I had to sit the CPJE again I could handle that - it was only a 2 hour exam, the questions were all in plain English, and I would know pretty well how to revise for that exam. It was the Naplex exam that I never ever ever wanted to have to see again, it being pretty much the worst 4 and a half hours of my life that I can recall. Thankfully, I will never need to go through that experience again. And hopefully I will pass the CPJE and then I can finally relax and really believe that I have made it America for good. I hope everyone else who follows me finds the Naplex a lot easier than I did, but if you too find it the worst exam you've ever taken, are convinced you've failed by a huge margin, and are totally crushed by the experience - DONT GIVE UP - AS YOU TOO MAY STILL HAVE PASSED. Good luck to all who have to sit the Naplex in the future, and thank you SO much for all the good wishes everyone had been sending me, it has meant a great deal to feel such support. Farmacyst.