Saturday, June 18, 2016

NPTE: How I'm Doing It

So I am taking the NPTE on July 19. It is just around the corner. I don't know if what I am doing to prepare is effective or going to push me over that 600 mark but I will to share with you how I'm doing it. I'll break it down into sort of a timeline.

November: I bought the National Physical Therapy Examination Review & Study Guide by TherapyEd. It comes with 3 practice exams and as far as the content in the book it seems pretty comprehensive.

January: At this point I am thinking the NPTE is about seven months away why don't I just see where I am at. So I took one the the TherapyEd exams. I had not studied at all (aside from just being in PT school) and pulled off a 60%.

January-May: During this time period I was on internship and had very good intentions if starting to lightly study for the NPTE but it did not happen as much as I was hoping. I spent maybe an hour or two a week reviewing.

April: I took a NPTE prep class put out by TherapyEd. The class for the most part was pretty good and they had some pretty good study tips. I started reading and studying "positive self talk" methods, believe it or not I feel this has been the best thing I have done. I would catch myself saying I can't pass the NPTE but with positive self talk and imagery I have begun to over come my fears and doubts. There is honestly no reason why I can't beat the NPTE!

May: The last of my internships ended and so I took another TherapyEd practice exam and scored a 67%.  I studied for the next two weeks and take another TherapyEd exam (This time the "practice" exam was provided/required by my school) As required by the school I needed to score a 60% in order to pass the schools standards and I pulled off a 65%.

June: I have been trying to study hard and on my study plan scheduled to take the PEAT 6 weeks before the test and I scored a 616/800.

July: Pass the NPTE on the 19th ;-)

August: Graduate on the 13th and start working! 

For the most part I have studied out of the TherapyEd (2015 ed.) book and I have made hundreds of flash cards with info about every PT subject under the sun. I try to take some cards with me everywhere and anytime I have a free second I pull out my cards (heck, even just a quick red light I'll do a couple cards).

Its a bit hard to see but I included a picture of my study schedule below. I try to spend anywhere from an hour to four hours a day studying. I elected to take every Sunday off because I am yet to study on Sunday throughout PT school (Keep the Sabbath Day Holy). So far I should be on track to pass the NPTE according to my PEAT score and the stats put out by the FSBPT in regards to the PEAT (See image below). 
https://www.fsbpt.org/Portals/0/Content%20Manager/PDFs/Forum/Forum_Fall2014_PEAT.pdf

I know the PEAT is another hundred bucks or so but in my opinion it was worth it to get a better idea of where I am at in my progress toward passing the NPTE. The TherapyEd exams just don't give you an actual score where the PEAT actually tells you whether or not you would have passed. What the hay, whats another hundred bucks after the thousands you just spent on PT school.

If you have any questions or comments in regard to this post or anything else let me know!
Feel free to email me at dalinhansen@gmail.com
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Monday, June 13, 2016

NPTE: It's Coming

The count down is on... literally, I am looking at the count down until I take the NPTE. The big kahuna! The Super Bowl of PT school! As I write this I am taking the test in 35 days 12 hours 41 minutes and 13 seconds. I swear the count down is moving faster than it should. As the late L. Tom Perry stated "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear". I am doing my best to be prepared for this thing but it is not easy. What should I look at, what should I read. Should I use flash cards. Should I take practice tests... Well I am by no means an expert but I will share with you how I am studying.
First I took a practice test cold from TherapyEd and scored a mean 60% (this was 6 months ago). I just wanted to see where I am at. Since then I did not do much studying until about 4 weeks ago and I started studying and trying to prepare according to my weaknesses based on that TherapyEd test. So over the last few weeks I have taken three more practice tests of which I have scored a 64%, 65%, and a 67%.

I am starting to get nervous because that test in coming faster than I could have expected. Over the next 35 days I have big plans to study hard but it is easy said than done. I still have to do all of my class work in the last semester of school (in Texas you can take the boards in your last semester). I don't know how everything is going to pan out but there is one thing I do know... I am going to work my tail of between now and July 19th. No matter how hard it gets, I'm going to make it!