Use the timer on the computer screen to keep track of the time. You have 6 hours for 225 questions, which means on average you have only 90 seconds for each question. Allocate time wisely, don’t linger too long on a question, move on to the next questions, and don’t lose sight.
You have the option of accepting or declining the two optional 10-min breaks. Due to the lengthy nature of the exam, you may want to take a break and recharge your brain. There are no bonus points for finishing early.
Keywords such as “most likely” may help you eliminate some choices if you cannot recall comprehensively.
Utilize the erasable note board to cross off an answer choice and banish it from your sight. Scratch a rough image for a certain mechanism or write down steps for a calculation question.
A majority of the questions are based on scenario formation (patient profiles with pertinent questions). Move directly to answer the questions, if needed go back to read and collect the necessary information.
Areas you may be rusty on
Make flashcards on areas that you are rusty on, review them selectively and regularly instead of reviewing everything which consumes a lot of time. Don't make too many flashcards to overwhelm yourself Hopefully, over time, they move from a level of difficulty to an easier level.
I recommend reviewing my foundation chapters including drug interactions, as they contain useful patterns and logic that can help you notice the trend in pharmacy knowledge. Once you master them, you can use these trends and organizations to solve problems no matter how they change! Below are only a few areas but not inclusive of all difficult subjects, I suggest reviewing each major therapeutic area on my website.
Antibiotics (Abx): It is helpful to know where in the cell the large groups of Abx act because they determine the type of infections they can treat and their respective properties. Spend some effort in categorizing the drugs that treat the resistant pathogens (MRSA, Pseudomonas, C. diff).
Antifungals: What agent treats what fungus? Know that many drug interactions exist for this class (especially for azoles like voriconazole).
Anticoagulation: Every drug here has a narrow therapeutic index. Be familiar with the basics of dosing, but don’t get caught up with nitty-gritty details. At least be able to discern that 7 g BID is a crazy dose for vancomycin.
HIV: it is more useful to know the class effects of each HIV drug class rather than memorizing the individual ones. Spend some effort in memorizing the common brand names of the combo products.
Oncology: Know the dose-limiting toxicities and adverse effects of common chemo. It is important to know how to manage the adverse effects.
Many drugs have anticholinergic effects, mastering this concept can help tremendously in solving different types of exam questions related to this broad topic.
