[ace2009]

Hello friends and future test-takers,
I scored 75 on the April FPGEE. It might not seem an impressive score but I am satisfied since two days before the test date by 2 year old daughter and I fell sick. I was totally shaken up thinking I might just flunk the test. But, by God's grace and my family's support, I passed. What a relief!

Here are a few tips and pointers that I would like to share:-
1. In keeping with suggestions by most test-takers on the forum, I tried to follow the blue-print as much as possible.
2. I needed to brush up my basics thoroughly. For Anatomy and Physiology I used The Easy Way as well as Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses.
3. For Microbiology and Immunology, CPR is suffice. For extra information, I used the internet.
4. I studied Pathology and Pathophysiology from Clinical Pathophysiology Made Ridiculously Simple. This is an elaborate book and I read a synopsis from Manan Shroff's theory book (that is just a page or two).
5. Biostatistics.... one topic I didn't enjoy studying.... bits from Remington- The Science and Practice of Pharmacy; bits from Kaplan's MedEssentials.
6. Molecular Biology/ Genetics:- Internet and Basic Biological Scinece books
7. For Medicinal Chemistry, CPR seemed the best source.
8. I studied Pharmacology from CPR and Lippincott. I used Internet as well, for extra information on drugs, drug classes, etc.
9. For Pharmacognosy, I referred to the chapter "Natural Products" in Remington. Herbals from CPR
10. Clinical Toxicology- CPR (important)
11. Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics - CPR + Ansel's Introduction to Pharmaceutical Dosage forms
12. Pharmaco- / Clinical Pharmacokinetics - CPR + Lippincott + Internet
13. For Area 3 ( Social/Behavioral etc) - I didn't find Manan Shroff worth reading. Remington is a good source, but not suffice.
14. Area 4 seems the trickiest of all. It is the clinical part..... threapeutic dose monitoring, adverse effects, pharmaceutical care, adverse drug reactions AND reporting...I read Pharmaceutical Care for Special Population from CPR. Loads of sources I could get my hands on the internet
15. There are mixed opinions on BPR (Dutta book). It isn't a great book but it aids in memorizing CPR to quite an extent. Lets face it, the FPGEE isn't a philosophical / literary test. There are tons of things we need to memorize. I felt BPR helped me.

Suggestions and tips:-
1. Please follow the blueprint. It is there for a purpose.
2. CPR is overwhelming with its contents. It seems bulky. I tore the entire book chapter-wise. That way, I could carry the individual chapters anywhere and felt at ease stacking chapters that I finished. It gave me a sense of achievement :-)
3. Practice as many questions as possible. I practiced from Manan Shroff's Q and A, BPR, questions from accesspharmacy.com (those were really tough)
4. If you visit accesspharmacy.com, you will find that the FPGEE blueprint has been based on the core curriculum from that site. They have an option of pay per view. If you can form a group and pool in money and share the contents of that site, it would help.

The FPGEE may not be a cinch, but you can do it. Be focused, identify your strength and weakness in the subjects, make a strategy, have faith in God and pray. Just do it!