NPTE Prep Review

Personal Disclaimer: This is MY OPINION and what I did to study for the NPTE. Do I think I did everything perfectly? Absolutely not. Following my advice will not guarantee you passing the NPTE. Everyone is different and be confident that you passed an entire graduate program to get to this point, so hopefully you already know what study strategies work best for you.

NPTE Security: The FSBPT aggressively protects the integrity of the NPTE. Such protection is important to safeguarding the public from persons who do not have the requisite knowledge about physical therapy and therefore are not qualified to practice physical therapy. Any person for whom the FSBPT has a reasonable suspicion of sharing or soliciting information about any NPTE examination question may be prohibited from sitting for the NPTE until they are determined after full investigation not to have shared or solicited such information.

Scorebuilders Basecamp

If you are someone who has difficulty staying on task while reading large textbooks, I highly suggest purchasing basecamp. I got the annual version because I thought I would need it and use it after reading through all of the sections, but just purchasing the 30 days is enough in my opinion. Basically, you get page numbers to read and then you have to answer questions about the topics you read. It helps to actively study since you know you will get a quiz after; however, some of the questions are very specific and some were not even discussed in the book, so I thought that was frustrating. Even though I was enrolled in a NPTE FF course, I thought it was a great add on if you wanted that extra review. It was also not that expensive and worth the price tag. Basecamp also comes with mini games in which you can challenge someone else and answer random questions which was a nice add-on, but I didn’t use it that frequently.

Scorebuilders Videos

Scorebuilders had a few webinars which they posted on their facebook group. I thought that some of their videos were helpful, but I didn’t feel like I needed to watch every single one. I would listen to them while working out, but some of them I would just turn off because I felt like it explained things too simplistically. They do offer some practice questions at the end, but they aren’t actual Scorebuilder questions, so they weren’t the best written practice questions possible.

Scorebuilders Book vs. TherapyEd

You will find a lot of mixed reviews on the different books, so don’t take my advice as the only perspective. If anyone asked me which book to get I would say to just get both. The Scorebuilders book was more detailed than the TherapyEd for certain topics and then for other topics the TherapyEd book was more detailed which is why I think they compliment each other well. What is really important to know is that while they are great books, don’t forget about those textbooks you purchased during PT school! Whenever I felt like I wasn’t understanding a specific topic I definitely used O’Sullivan, Kisner, and others. If you are on a tight budget I suggest getting basecamp with the Scorebuilders book or purchasing the TherapyEd book with the course.

TherapyEd Course

When I took this course, I was already in the NPTE FF program, so I didn’t find this course that life changing. I thought that it was helpful in knowing my strengths/weaknesses since we had to answer A LOT of practice questions during the two-day course, but I also didn’t think my strengths were my actual strengths if you get what I am saying. The course was helpful in preparing you for being more efficient since you only had about one minute to answer each question. You also get a TherapyEd Course Guide which is a small book that is basically a long study guide which was easy to read and I found it to be helpful in reviewing important topics. Moreover, a lot of people said that this course gave them the motivation to start studying. Depending on what PT program you are in, you may have this course at a discounted rate along with the book, so I suggest seeing if it is really worth it for you to purchase this course if you are already enrolled in another NPTE review course such as Final Frontier.

Dr. Kyle Rice Sheets/ Podcast

The Kyle Rice study guides were helpful in reviewing common topics. I think he does a great job in explaining things in an organized manner in his study guides as well as his podcasts. I couldn’t listen to that many of his podcasts because after reading for hours I didn’t want to even hear about the NPTE LOL, but if you are an auditory learner, you will definitely enjoy them. I would also like to add that I recognized a couple of scorebuilder questions during his podcasts, so it might affect your score listening to the rationale prior to taking the practice exam, but I don’t think textbook practice exam scores are really that important anyways.

NPTE Final Frontier

Besides the PEATs, I think that this is by far the best way to review for the NPTE. I was able to get a discount for their live course during CSM and I thought that it was worth every penny. If you are on a tight budget I think getting the study bundle is just as great. You get 3 lectures every week for 3 months and for the last month there is an added office hour lecture each week in which you can ask any question you want. For the live course, you can ask questions during the lecture which is super helpful if you want to get the answer right away. It also comes with access to a facebook and whatsapp group which posts daily practice questions and can get your questions answered by the FF staff as well. You also get more than lectures, you get access to study guides they prepared, two 50 question mini-exams (perfect for adding on to your 200 question textbook exams), two 250 question exams, and you get daily readings to do every day which come from pdfs of textbooks, so you don’t really need to purchase other books (besides Scorebuilders/TherapyEd)! They also create a schedule for you, so I never had to worry about what I was going to study the next day, I just looked at my Final Frontier schedule.

What would I have done differently?

I didn’t pass my academic PEATs (the ones we take while we are still in PT school), so I felt like I really needed to prepare for this exam. If I could go back in time, I would purchase: Scorebuilders Basecamp, TherapyEd book, Scorebuilders/TherapyEd Exams, PEATs, and NPTE FF Study Bundle if I wasn’t able to get a discount for the live course.

I took a practice exam, now what?

The PEAT is your best indicator on how you will do on the NPTE. If you are not passing your practice exams, I wouldn’t worry that much. I’m not saying to not review the questions you got right/wrong, but don’t put yourself down. I know people that never passed a practice exam, but still passed their PEATs and then the NPTE.

If you are interested, this is how I analyzed my practice exam scores.

What if I’m in my clinical rotations, how should I prepare?

I wouldn’t go too crazy in preparing for the NPTE during your rotations (unless you are taking them in April), but what I did was read sections of my Scorebuilders book whenever I had a patient that had the same diagnosis that was discussed in the book such as ACL injury, meniscus tear, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Although I did not pass my academic PEAT, I was able to increase my MSK score by 70 points after reviewing a little bit during my outpatient ortho rotation. Closer to the end of my last rotation, I started studying regularly on the weekends.

Lastly, I just want to say that before you start studying for the NPTE, you need to make this your wallpaper, phone background, print it out and put it on your wall because you need to always think positive and always think you are going to pass. I told my friend Annie this 4 days prior to the exam, “You already passed, all you need to do is take the test!”