#mpje

Oh yay a pharmacy ask! I haven’t posted about pharmacy in ages.

Full disclaimer: I did not study as much as I should have. I got a late offer for a fellowship and thus do not need to be licensed for my job.

One thing I did not take advantage of at all was the practice exams/questions. I think anyone preparing for these exams should absolutely do as many of these questions as possible (as long as it’s in your budget). It’s kind of like math; the more times you see certain situations/problems, the more it will get ingrained into your head and the easier the questions will become in the future. I really think practice questions are critical.

Another thing that I believe is really beneficial (could vary from person to person, though) is studying with friends. People have different ways of thinking and explaining things, so maybe if one person is having a difficult time with one topic, another person might be able to explain it in a manner that makes it easier to understand. I also think that the explainer benefits too in this situation; talking or writing things out is another way for information to sink in.

As for more specific advice for the MPJE… I wish I hadn’t spent money to attend my university’s law review. It was expensive and really only made people more confused. I don’t think I have any great resources for federal law, but for state law, I used the “Pharmacy Law Simplified” book written by David Heckman, PharmD (purchased via Amazon; it’s a bit pricey at $99 but I thought it was worth it). A number of states are available, but I don’t know if all 50 are. I think that book is organized very well (split into topics such as “FDA recalls” and “generic substitutions”) and obviously the simplified language makes it really easy to understand. And don’t forget to use your state’s Board of Pharmacy website to access laws and related information! Using your class notes (which are at least a year old if you’re about to graduate) is risky because the information may be outdated. I know I’m probably not supposed to be talking about this, but some questions that threw me off guard during my MPJE were about Expedited Partner Therapy (allowed in most states; I had a number of questions on this and started second-guessing myself) and how much mace pharmacists are allowed to sell of all things. So the MPJE isn’t just going to ask about situations that are applicable to everyday practice, but questions for the less common things will pop up as well. They are no less important!

For the NAPLEX, I also got a review book for free from APhA, but I never actually touched it. I can’t vouch for it’s usefulness. I honestly didn’t use anything for the NAPLEX other than RxPrep, my class notes, and my friends, which in hindsight was not the best idea but I wasn’t particularly motivated (see my disclaimer).

Just two law exams stand between me and making real money

Found out I failed my law test again. Did worse than the first time.