September 30, 2010 FPGEE - Share your experience!

[Pharmaddict]

Because I went to a pharmacy school in Jordan while the shortage was actually real before all these schools in america popped up, when I left to jordan my intention wasnt to even study this field and there were barely any schools here. I was coaxed into it by all my friends who studied here and work with walgreens, cvs, target etc..but now these same people are the ones telling me its hard to get foreign grads hired, very hard! so stop kidding yourselves its not as easy as it was before. Before they used to hire you on the spot with a $10k bonus sign on, some places gave hirees BMW's. now its not like that. They are obligated to hire american student interns even then some places turn them away. Some schools tell students to choose a place way before the semester begins. So imagine us the foregn grads. And I really do feel bad for the ones without citizenship or immigration status its even harder for them. I advise anyone who hasnt started pharm school and their dream was to come to the states to scrap that idea. but as for us its too late now we have to hunt down companies or work as techs or work anything in hopes a pharmacy will take us as interns. This is reality some of you do not want to hear this because its the truth. and I wish everyone good luck because we really do need it.

 

 

This is not the perfect way to deal with things; you can give up if you think that it's impossible to be a pharmacist here. It's not too late to have another start, maybe in a different field. When I started preparation, I forced myself not to read posts like this because these desperate feelings are contagious. If you keep convincing yourself that you won't find an internship, so you won't find it!! It needs patience and perseverance as topaz said, and it doesn't harm trying. It's not a waste of time and effort; I was studying for myself NOT only for the exam. Also, it's not awaste of money; what I gained from this experience is worth much more than what I spent. We are all in the same boat; you have a citizenship but you cannot find an internship even as a volunteer!!

[Smiley1982]

I totally agree with Pharmaddict, we should never give up. Life is full of challenges and working as a pharmacist in the states is one of them. It's my first post in this amazing forum because I used to be a silent observer. I decided to participate this time to share my personal experience.

I came to the states several months ago with F2 visa which doesn't allow me to work here.

I took TOEFL iBT and scored 23 in the speaking section which went up to 26 after rescoring

(rescoring helped me and it may help you too).

I took FPGEE in Sep2010 and I totally agree with most of your comments (CPR is not related, internet is a valuable source, many guesses etc..)

Still waiting for my results to know how they evaluate this strange exam!

Meanwhile, I started to look for an internship as a volunteer and I found one (don't be scared of not finding an internship. tens didn't find an opportunity but THOUSANDS did)

Do your best, don't listen to disperate voices, and you will gain what you deserve............

[svetlana42]

Hello, Smiley!

I also got 24 on the speaking section.One question, how did you re-score it?

Thank you

Svetlana

[Smiley1982]

Hi svetlana42,

You can download the request form using this link

http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/iBT_rescore_form.pdf

 

1- Print this application, read it carefully, and fill it.

2- Fax or mail it (the address and the fax number are mentioned in the application)

3- IMPORTANT: Check your TOEFL iBT profile everyday to see this order.

4- If the order is not shown in your profile, send the form again and again until it shows up

(in this case, write DUPLICATE on the top of the application)

5- Check your score everyday. It took about 12 days for me to find the new score and another

week to reimburse me (ETS don't send any emails!)

 

Good Luck :)

[sarah31]

can i know ,what did you do when you feel bore about study and stressed ?????

[LishaD]

can i know ,what did you do when you feel bore about study and stressed ?????

 

 

 

That's a good question Sarah. Was I bored or what :) But once I got hang of studying it got better. Try to study in a University atmosphere (ask your local Uni if they could let you use their library). I was lucky they allowed me and they had a good cafeteria. Take a regular break and stick to your plan. Revise daily on your way home what you just read. Practice answering lots of questions. If you find one chapter difficult or not interesting, read it once and move on instead of spending 3-4 days. Because that 3-4 days could be used for reading other important sources which increase your chance of getting more right answers. Just my opinion! Take notes but not too detailed... just the one you found hard to remember not the one you already know.

[sarah31]

oh thank you LishaD, i study in online courses and it is enjoying but after i finish the lecture online i begine to study with myself the lecture note and feels bore, so today i studied my lecturer notes in the college cafeteria and it was really so nice.

i felt so interesting same as in the online lecture time.

[thaierah143]

did anyone even fail?

[riham]

i will have my FPGEE exam in April -2011

i bought the CPR seventh edition, i dont start studying yet but i hope that i find new students ( like me ) to make group and study togother

 

please reply if there is any new user because im really so confused :(

Edited November 15, 2010 by riham

[crisjing]

I would like to share with you my experience so you'll have an idea what I did before I passed the FPGEE. I must say it was not an easy task and it was indeed a loooong journey for me.NO SHORT CUTS for me.

 

Before I started to review for FPGEE I decided to take PTCB (Pharmacy Technician Exams) so I will have a fall back just incase I wont make it for FPGEE. It took me about 6 weeks to prepare for the exams coz I must admit that I graduated BS Pharmacy in 1987 and could barely recall the knowledge I learned 23 years ago. I cant believe Im revealing my age here hahaha.

 

I have actually shared the links I used for preparing for the PTCB Exams on two of the yahoo e-grps I joined in, if some of you may decide to take PTCB I would gladly share them the web links I used, just leave a message to me.

 

I actually attended a two weeks FPGEE review course with Pharmareviewrx (www.pharmareviewrx.com) in Rancho Cucamonga CA in April 2010. I was totally satisfied with their output. I almost finished my 5 subject notebook and have to buy a new set of notebook to take down notes ...just imagine how intensive the lecture was for two weeks, the review covered almost all the FPGEE subjects from chemistry, physiology,pharmacology, immunology,genetics, statistics, biochemistry, ethics etc etc . They provided us with review materials and we had a one month online revision or coaching in August before we took the exams in September 30.

The lecturer is Dr. Imasa has a pharmacy degree and continued Medicine to become a doctor. He's been lecturing pharmacology for almost 20 years so he really knows the important facts to study in FPGEE as he too took the FPGEE with a score of 134. Dr Imasa is an easy to approach person so you wont hesitate to ask questions for clarification just incase you dont understand something on the lecture. Oh yeah please do not misinterpret me sharing info about the review center I'm just here to share how I PASSED the exams if you think you need help from a review center then dont hesitate to contact them. I know some peolpe do not believe in attending/enrolling into a review center but in my case since I graduated 23 years ago I guess I need to refresh myself with Pharmacology especially.

Going back on how I had the self review. I know for myself that if I stay home there will be alot of distractions and delays so I actually studied in Kaity Geissert Library in Torrance. I go to the library by 11am and will finish as long as I can. I actually made a schedule but I find it difficult to stick to it so every week I kept on revising my "to do list" of topics to study per week in short it was a flexible one. At first it was difficult for me to stay at the library for 4-5 hours but as the days goes on I got the hang of it and could stay for 6-8 hours the most. Then I gave myself a break at night just watching TV shows but a month before the exams that was in August Pharmareviewrx gave us at least two-three hours revision 3 times a week with Dr. Imasa thru skype conference. I must say you'll really get the most of your money.

Aside from the web links that I will be sharing you guys I studied the following materials as well:

1. Manan Shroff Management Theories and Q and A

2. Manan Shroff Reference Guide for Foreign Pharmacy Licensing Exam (Q and A) and Theories

3. Dr Imasa's Review Materials

4. Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews in Pharmacology

I had CPR but I felt overwhelmed by the informations you could get to this book so I stick more on Dr. Imasa's Lecture notes.

My advice for those who will be taking the exams as what others have said DO NOT MEMORIZE so much information, its better if you try to understand the concept that way its easier . And speaking for myself I see to it that I have to re-read them at least twice coz you tend to forget it...one passing is not enough for me.

I do hope the informations I shared to you guys will help you in your own journey to pass FPGEE.

 

Regards,

crisjing

[FutureRPH]

hi friends, I didn't attend any review course, but managed to pass with a scaled score of 100. I studied for almost 3 months, 2 months of study and last one month to review my notes.

Mostly I referred CPR, lippincort ; Remington and internet source for management. In the last one month I just focused myself to review the important notes that I highlighted in my books and anything that might be helpful for the exam and 2 weeks before the exam I did prefpgee and practice tests of chasenaplex.com.

In my opinion FPGEE is manageable without help of any review course, if you are dedicated towards it. If you dont know the answers (that happens many times during the exam), you need to try POE.

My advice for the future test takers is that in the last 2-3 weeks just focus yourself to review the notes and things you studied otherwise during the exam you might not able to recall things.

[aleksandra]

i did not take any classes either. i started studying in may but had almost a month break in august when i didnt even touch my books. i studied 5-6 hrs a day, sometimes less. i didnt have a schedule or anything, i just followed the blueprint. i read CPR twice, i did manan shroff's Q&As. i did not study management, well just whatever was in CPR. i read OTC chapters as well but i didn't try to memorize anything. in my opinion, it's good to at least go through it once. it will give you a general idea. my adive to you guys is - don't give up and don't feel overwhelemed. after the exam i felt like a loser and thought i wasn't gonna make it. part 2 of the exam was extremely hard for me. but i ended up scoring 116 points and i am proud of myself. Just try to do something every day and definitely make sure you have a month to revise before the exam. this is also a perfect time to take pre-FPGEE.

good luck!

[diaa]

crisjing you advertise for that new lecturer as i didn't hear about this person before as i know that the only and the first lecturer for Pharmacy Board is Dr.Yayooo.

is that advertise for a new lecturer???

[crisjing]

Hi Diaa,

I want to make a correction I am not advertising nor connected with Pharmareviewrx (Dr Imasa). I am a former student of Dr. Imasa who attended his review in Upland, CA last April 2010.

Dr. Imasa has been teaching FPGEE in our country for quite sometime and in August 2009 a group of 15 students based in US invited him over to California to conduct a review. He came for the second batch in April 2010 which I attended. He's supposed to have the third batch last July-August 2010 but they have to cancel it because they do not have a census to cover the expenses. They will have the third batch on February 2011.

 

Diaa there maybe some members here who dont advise attending a review center but we have different capabilities right? If you think you need one then I suggest go ahead but if you think you dont need one then go for self study. After all you're the one deciding for yourself and not others. I've graduated for almost 23 years and that made me decide to attend one to refresh myself and I must say that I dont regret attending or enrolling myself in a review center infact I was successful on my first attempt. But I can say its not a 100% guarantee that you will pass FPGEE if you did enroll yourself in a review center, of course you need to do your part as well. Study well and I wish you all the best goodluck.

[diaa]

Crisjing, thank you but for me i'm a student of Dr.Yayooo and i agree with you that we need who manage this study to pass the most difficult pharmacy exam all over the world (FPGEE), also my lecturer always enforce me to study hard and manage my study plan. for you it is great that you passed with your first attempt while you graduated from long time but i knew manyr friends and they wrote their stories about this on my lecturer forums,that passed FPGEE exam in their first attempts that older than you.really i like this fighter personality and that is why i always recomend to study in group. may be some others find it not good that you depend on another persons to work hardly but for me i satisfied with that.

thank you Crisjing

[lyrai]

Hi!

I wrote this right after i took the test, but never got to post it... Finally, here it is.

 

For me the exam was… average. It is a exam after all. It’s not supposed to be easy.

I saw a great difference between the 1st and the 2nd part (which, by the way, were 2:45 min, 125 questions each).

 

1st part: Chemistry, biochemistry, biology and a couple of questions about drugs that there was no way someone had learned. One of them was about a disease I haven’t even heard of, other about drugs I have no idea about, other about an IV formulation I found nonsense to ask about.

- In chemistry, just general concepts . I mean, nothing too deep like orbitals, reactions or thermochemistry, it was more about solubility, pH etc.

-About Biology and biochem… cell structures, molecular biology…

-One or 2 questions VERY simple about calculations and… that’s it.

I didn’t find it that hard, but you have to pay attention to the WORDS and the answers, because sometimes they give you a big clue in the question or 3 out of the 4 possible answers make no sense or rule out each other.

More common sense and recalling things I studied during my major than using the info I reviewed for the exam. And that’s what makes it kind of hard, because in my case, it all depended on my memory. I didn’t review that, and I don’t think most people did, because we tend to focus in the advanced stuff and forget about the basics… And here they ask you about them. So I think that a quick review to your notes (chem and biochem) from your years in college a couple of weeks before the test would be enough.

I had plenty of time to review them all again, and I finished half an hour ahead because I was bored of reviewing (reviewing is so much faster) and I didn’t want to get tired reading over and over the same questions. The ones I didn’t know… I wasn’t going to know them if I sat there for a longer time anyway.

 

2nd part: TOTALLY different. I felt “kind of” good thinking that if the second part was like the 1st one there would be some possibility for me to pass, but no way. They were about pharmacology and management.

-Pharmacology: These questions made me think. Nothing obvious like: “which one is an ACE Inhibitor?” that you can answer straightforward. And I don’t think they were similar to the ones in the CPR. Some of them I think I figured out, some I guessed, some were just impossible. So my advice is to learn and understand very well pharmacology and clinical pharmacy, uses and side effects over all, not just for the general groups, also for individual drugs. And I think that can be exasperating if you go too deep, but… being a pharmacist, there’s nothing wrong about studying too much about pharmacology (could be worse!).

-Management: I think I am glad I didn’t study the Manan Shroff. My only source about management was the 1000q&a, and my friend’s mom, who gave me a speech about her insurance company and how it was for her and other people. I answered a couple of questions about what we talked about. The other ones were… common sense? Definitely not something you learn in a book. VERY random.

 

This is what the board web page says:

• Basic biomedical sciences – 21%

• Pharmaceutical Sciences – 29%

• Social, behavioral, administrative pharmacy sciences – 15%

• Clinical sciences – 35%

 

And that is how it was. When we are studying we freak out and believe that the hardest, the best, but actually there was not “management” per se. “Social, behavioral, administrative” explains it very well. The bad thing is that, where would you study that from?

There were 4 or 5 questions about statistics, but nothing too complicated. I took a 15 min look to a book in a bookstore 2 days before the test, like a summary chapter of one of those “statistics of dummies” or something like that, and it helped me (maybe I was too lucky).

I reviewed all the questions also. And did a second and third review in some ones I had doubts on. This time my timing was a little bit tighter (because I had to think more about the answers), but it worked out well and I left 15 min before the time expired.

---

Obviously, all the opinions about the test strongly depend on the sources you have used and how you have studied, so here’s my experience:

I am lazy and, even if I “said” that I was preparing for the fpgee a long time ago, I never actually did until 3'5 months before the test.

I read the CPR once in January-February because I wanted to take the exam in April 2010. But… I started working in a pharmacy and I decided to take it in September instead.

That first reading was just awful. So much info, so many drugs, so hard because it was in English and I wasn’t used to it. I skipped OTC and nuclear pharmacy, and it took me like one month, doing schetches -that I never used later on- and screening information. I think that I also highlighted the most important concepts.

Then I didn’t open the book again until April-May. It was frustrating to see that I could not remember ANYTHING, but I guess my first approach was good anyway because it helped me to understand how the book was structured and how to study it, and gave me a wide view of what I was going to see. That month I read it again, highlighting and doing more organized, simple sketches. It probably took me 2 months because I wasn’t studying for so many hours and also because the registration procedures were very time consuming. And also because I spent a lot of time searching for things that other people said about the test and their sources, that is: freaking out, getting me nervous and sometimes quite frustrated, wondering if taking this test (and all the things you have to do and try after that in order to finally get your license) was worth it.

 

The last 15 days of july I studied all and only pharmacology and medicinal chemistry from CPR. The first 15 of august, the rest of the chapters (except otc and radiopharmacy).

During the rest of august, pharmacology again, and started doing practice questions (1000 q&a) and the questions in the CPR, which I haven’t done before.

During the 1st half of September, the rest of the book again with the CPR questions left, and the FPGEE CD’S, and the rest of the 1000q&a I haven’t done yet. I had completed my sketches (pharmacology) with more accurate and specific information, like important side effects and important facts, which helped a lot in the review. I could see and remember many things just giving them a glance.

During the last 10 days I didn’t do much. Just the medicinal chemistry chapters, herbs, that I just read once, and maybe cardiovascular, thyroid and something else, but probably while reviewing the med chem.

In general, during the last 2’5 months, I spent like 7 hours studying every day.

 

The questions in CPR and 1000q&a are not like the ones in the test, but both are helpful to make you THINK and realize about things. Maybe I found more helpful the latter ones. Anyway, I think it is VERY important to do questions, before, during and after you studied, because it will help to learn details or important facts that you may not have paid attention to.

 

I didn’t take the pre-fpgee because I thought that I wasn’t going to change anything, just let me down if it was bad.

 

And… that is all I can say. To summarize, i just used CPR for theory, and 1000Q&A, CPR and FPGEE CD'S for practice questions, and I also read some things on the internet, but not very remarkable.

I didn’t think I did great, and I didn’t think I did really bad. It was a mystery for me how they grade and if I was going to pass or not. The questions were so random that I had to just guess most of the time. Finally, I got a 108.

 

I hope it's helpful... and not too difficult to understand!!

 

Good luck!

[Martin Fincher]

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