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Aracne · 2009 July 1st, 10:05 PM

Well, last week I was stuck with the cancer drugs and today I find myself lost in the maze of antibiotics....of course there are zillions of them, and apparently naplex expects us to know brand/generic, Cephs generations, what goes in the fridge, what comes IV/IM/Susp/Solid, what cures what and in the best order!!, side effects, controindications... I mean really?
Do they know that I'm trying to remember the same kind of info for another 1000 drugs already? Oh, I forgot, maybe by memorizing the dosage for each single drug in each single patient with each possible infection everything will come togheter.
I officially hate the board of pharmacy and this stupid exam!!
Where I work they let me do all the tasks as a pharmacists and are very happy and confident in me, if I am not sure of something I have the integrity and responsability to look it up before saying farewell to the patients... that's what they should be testing in my opinion... don't know how though.
Now, is there any case where the pharmacist says: you have pneumonia, considering your age it's definitely a strep. infection, I'd give you zithromax 250mg QD if you were going home, but since you are in the hospital I rether give you claforan (cefotaxime) 1g IV BID, oh wait, did you say you got pneumonia in the hospital? OK then , it sure is Staph aureus, let me give you garamycin also (gentamicin) 210mg IM QD and you should be fine in a couple of days. Ops I forgot, the doc has told you your kidneys are not functioning well? well, no gentamycin then, I am out of solutions, there are a couple of options though:
1 start writing your will.
2 go see that doctor again and see if he needs me to do his job.
3 shut up and give me 5 minutes alone with the computer so I can save your life.
4 if you come back in a few weeks I will have passed the naplex and I sure know what to do then.

I'm 5 years in US, went once to the doctor for a weird rash I had and after meeting with a world renown dermatologist he desappeared for 30 minutes in the computer room, still not sure he called 3 other collegues to share opinions, I was ordered labwork for scabies, syphilis and another bunch of horrible diseases that I didnot want to list to my wife and friends, I was also treated for this stuff but it seems they were still wrong; out of options and at my 4th visit with the rash that was now hitching to no end and covering half of my body they said: let's wait for the other labwork, try 1% hydrocortisone (OTC) and we'll see you next week.
Next week I didnot even go back because the 3$ tube of hydrocortisone (I'm against brand drugs if there is an alternative) worked the very 1st day and when they called me to see why I didnot show up the Doc said: "right what I thought, it was an ID reaction", I hang up. True story.
Now, tell me that US has the best healthcare system and socialized medicine will lower the quality of treatment.
Everywhere in the world the best doctors are the public ones because they have contact with all variety of patients and in high volume.
Ops that's going far out of topic.
I just needed to vent a little

nestt · 2009 July 2nd, 12:56 AM

i really enjoyed and liked your effort, but you know we all have to go through this and I think system is going to suck us more since the exam is being reviewed now. We should expect some more horrible things.

Good luck for all the sufferers.

I can do it! · 2009 July 2nd, 06:18 PM

Hi Aracne,
I enjoy all your reviews and descriptions. You are right!! Only last week I went to see the allergy specialist for allergies. I have no more than some sneezes on some days, that's it, and I am pretty healthy. Just because I hated to take a single tablet of loratadine once in a while...he labelled me with allergic-asthma... is he kidding me? I said no, I am not taking any of those Advair or Ventolin inhalers he prescribed me, so he said then I'll develop COPD in just few years. What was he talking about? I can not believe Drs in this country overprescribe like this.

Coming back to your point, if Drs don't do their job properly, are we pharmacists (-to-be) going to take over? What is the purpose of making such a complicated and difficult exam?

bob271340 · 2009 July 2nd, 06:55 PM

Arcane I agree with your discussion about this exam and this health care system. That's why USA is not the first rank health care of the world. Japan is the first... why because short and sweet way of pharmacy....

One more thing i just thought about the naplex.

1st question of my exam was really easy... and now i am sure that it was dummy... to check my strength. probably, I gave right answer.

2nd question was little harder... i probably gave right answer...

3rd question was really really really hard... CASE STUDY (profile)... I got continuous 5 questions of them...

later on, computer start asking me question of kidney... heart....etc... computer found my weakness that I am not good at the microbiology... it asked me 15 questions of micro....with antibiotic....

I concluded that... all real real easy questions are mostly dummy.... so if you gave that question wrong... your next NON-dummy question will be average (not real real real hard).... that what I'been thinking... BUT DONT TRY in real exam and I am not sure of this conclusion. But i tried in prenaplex and I got 97 lately...

I know that original NAPLEX is built in VB6 language and MSSQL server and pre-naplex is built in ASP.net and MSSQL server. Program can be made in vb6 to trick through dummy questions....we are lucky that they did not used new features of VB2008...

Best luck guys...

Aracne · 2009 July 2nd, 08:20 PM

Ahah, I really hope nobody tries to see what happens by willingly answering a question wrong. There is 1 fault in your conclusion though, the dummy questions are meant to be answered and the answers be assessed by the 'experts' in order to give them a coefficient and place them in future naplex exams as scored questions. If the dummy questions were by definition easy, the Naplex would be a joke by now. They need to put dummy questions that are thought to represent all range of difficulty, in order to keep the level of the exam consistent for the time ahead.
How to weight a question is a complex problem, I believe it depends on what the board wants us to know absolutely and what's the response of test takers while answering the dummy questions.
An example, first dose syncope with alpha blockers is very important to know for a pharmacist because will save lifes but is a relatively rare event; on the other hand, the diarrhea during the first weeks of metformin therapy is not dangerous but it happens relatively often. Based on these findings I'd give similar weight to the 2 topics. On the other hand, I'm prone to think that any question on dosing, even if of a common drug like metformin or prazosin will have a high coefficient because it's simply harder to remember numbers as compared to side effects and they will have more people failing a dosage question than a side effect question.
I assume questions will have a different weight if they are about a drug in the top 100, 200, 300.
In the same way, math questions that expect memorizing the molecular weight of Na and Cl and require a 3 step process to get the answer will be valued more than math questions that can be solved with a single proportion using given values.
But what I was tryin to say is this, if I did not know that metformin gives diarrhea, for me that would be the hardest question, for who knows it, is a very simple question to answer, nontheless the coefficient of this question is the same for the 2 test takers. Therefore I'm pretty sure that they base the question values on what they expect us to know and on the statistics about the dummy questions.
And to conclude YES, you miss a question, you get an easier (according to them) one, you get that right, wait for the harder one (still according to them).
I'm glad some of you find some of my posts entertaining, for real fun I suggest theangrypharmacist.com and theangriestpharmacist.com I don't agree with them but still it's worthed reading ... don't forget to study though!!

bob271340 · 2009 July 3rd, 12:56 AM

Yeah arcane, you are right... the only one thing to get good score is DAMN DO TOUGH STUDY.... I read the ApHa and in preface they mentioned that 30 questions are dummy out of 185 to find out the strength of the exam taker.... but taking risk of clicking wrong answer is not the solution to pass...

Best luck arcane....

2009 July 1st, 10:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Aracne They are already proud! Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 84	Antibiotics Well, last week I was stuck with the cancer drugs and today I find myself lost in the maze of antibiotics....of course there are zillions of them, and apparently naplex expects us to know brand/generic, Cephs generations, what goes in the fridge, what comes IV/IM/Susp/Solid, what cures what and in the best order!!, side effects, controindications... I mean really? Do they know that I'm trying to remember the same kind of info for another 1000 drugs already? Oh, I forgot, maybe by memorizing the dosage for each single drug in each single patient with each possible infection everything will come togheter. I officially hate the board of pharmacy and this stupid exam!! Where I work they let me do all the tasks as a pharmacists and are very happy and confident in me, if I am not sure of something I have the integrity and responsability to look it up before saying farewell to the patients... that's what they should be testing in my opinion... don't know how though. Now, is there any case where the pharmacist says: you have pneumonia, considering your age it's definitely a strep. infection, I'd give you zithromax 250mg QD if you were going home, but since you are in the hospital I rether give you claforan (cefotaxime) 1g IV BID, oh wait, did you say you got pneumonia in the hospital? OK then , it sure is Staph aureus, let me give you garamycin also (gentamicin) 210mg IM QD and you should be fine in a couple of days. Ops I forgot, the doc has told you your kidneys are not functioning well? well, no gentamycin then, I am out of solutions, there are a couple of options though: 1 start writing your will. 2 go see that doctor again and see if he needs me to do his job. 3 shut up and give me 5 minutes alone with the computer so I can save your life. 4 if you come back in a few weeks I will have passed the naplex and I sure know what to do then. I'm 5 years in US, went once to the doctor for a weird rash I had and after meeting with a world renown dermatologist he desappeared for 30 minutes in the computer room, still not sure he called 3 other collegues to share opinions, I was ordered labwork for scabies, syphilis and another bunch of horrible diseases that I didnot want to list to my wife and friends, I was also treated for this stuff but it seems they were still wrong; out of options and at my 4th visit with the rash that was now hitching to no end and covering half of my body they said: let's wait for the other labwork, try 1% hydrocortisone (OTC) and we'll see you next week. Next week I didnot even go back because the 3$ tube of hydrocortisone (I'm against brand drugs if there is an alternative) worked the very 1st day and when they called me to see why I didnot show up the Doc said: "right what I thought, it was an ID reaction", I hang up. True story. Now, tell me that US has the best healthcare system and socialized medicine will lower the quality of treatment. Everywhere in the world the best doctors are the public ones because they have contact with all variety of patients and in high volume. Ops that's going far out of topic. I just needed to vent a little Last edited by Aracne : 2009 July 1st at 10:29 PM.

2009 July 2nd, 06:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
bob271340 Eager! Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 99	Arcane I agree with your discussion about this exam and this health care system. That's why USA is not the first rank health care of the world. Japan is the first... why because short and sweet way of pharmacy.... One more thing i just thought about the naplex. 1st question of my exam was really easy... and now i am sure that it was dummy... to check my strength. probably, I gave right answer. 2nd question was little harder... i probably gave right answer... 3rd question was really really really hard... CASE STUDY (profile)... I got continuous 5 questions of them... later on, computer start asking me question of kidney... heart....etc... computer found my weakness that I am not good at the microbiology... it asked me 15 questions of micro....with antibiotic.... I concluded that... all real real easy questions are mostly dummy.... so if you gave that question wrong... your next NON-dummy question will be average (not real real real hard).... that what I'been thinking... BUT DONT TRY in real exam and I am not sure of this conclusion. But i tried in prenaplex and I got 97 lately... I know that original NAPLEX is built in VB6 language and MSSQL server and pre-naplex is built in ASP.net and MSSQL server. Program can be made in vb6 to trick through dummy questions....we are lucky that they did not used new features of VB2008... Best luck guys... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Bob Best luck for your exam

2009 July 3rd, 12:56 AM	#6 (permalink)
bob271340 Eager! Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 99	Yeah arcane, you are right... the only one thing to get good score is DAMN DO TOUGH STUDY.... I read the ApHa and in preface they mentioned that 30 questions are dummy out of 185 to find out the strength of the exam taker.... but taking risk of clicking wrong answer is not the solution to pass... Best luck arcane.... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Bob Best luck for your exam

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2009 July 2nd, 12:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
nestt Eager! Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 93	i really enjoyed and liked your effort, but you know we all have to go through this and I think system is going to suck us more since the exam is being reviewed now. We should expect some more horrible things. Good luck for all the sufferers.

2009 July 2nd, 06:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
I can do it! Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 208	Hi Aracne, I enjoy all your reviews and descriptions. You are right!! Only last week I went to see the allergy specialist for allergies. I have no more than some sneezes on some days, that's it, and I am pretty healthy. Just because I hated to take a single tablet of loratadine once in a while...he labelled me with allergic-asthma... is he kidding me? I said no, I am not taking any of those Advair or Ventolin inhalers he prescribed me, so he said then I'll develop COPD in just few years. What was he talking about? I can not believe Drs in this country overprescribe like this. Coming back to your point, if Drs don't do their job properly, are we pharmacists (-to-be) going to take over? What is the purpose of making such a complicated and difficult exam?

2009 July 2nd, 08:20 PM	#5 (permalink)
Aracne They are already proud! Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 84	Ahah, I really hope nobody tries to see what happens by willingly answering a question wrong. There is 1 fault in your conclusion though, the dummy questions are meant to be answered and the answers be assessed by the 'experts' in order to give them a coefficient and place them in future naplex exams as scored questions. If the dummy questions were by definition easy, the Naplex would be a joke by now. They need to put dummy questions that are thought to represent all range of difficulty, in order to keep the level of the exam consistent for the time ahead. How to weight a question is a complex problem, I believe it depends on what the board wants us to know absolutely and what's the response of test takers while answering the dummy questions. An example, first dose syncope with alpha blockers is very important to know for a pharmacist because will save lifes but is a relatively rare event; on the other hand, the diarrhea during the first weeks of metformin therapy is not dangerous but it happens relatively often. Based on these findings I'd give similar weight to the 2 topics. On the other hand, I'm prone to think that any question on dosing, even if of a common drug like metformin or prazosin will have a high coefficient because it's simply harder to remember numbers as compared to side effects and they will have more people failing a dosage question than a side effect question. I assume questions will have a different weight if they are about a drug in the top 100, 200, 300. In the same way, math questions that expect memorizing the molecular weight of Na and Cl and require a 3 step process to get the answer will be valued more than math questions that can be solved with a single proportion using given values. But what I was tryin to say is this, if I did not know that metformin gives diarrhea, for me that would be the hardest question, for who knows it, is a very simple question to answer, nontheless the coefficient of this question is the same for the 2 test takers. Therefore I'm pretty sure that they base the question values on what they expect us to know and on the statistics about the dummy questions. And to conclude YES, you miss a question, you get an easier (according to them) one, you get that right, wait for the harder one (still according to them). I'm glad some of you find some of my posts entertaining, for real fun I suggest theangrypharmacist.com and theangriestpharmacist.com I don't agree with them but still it's worthed reading ... don't forget to study though!!

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