Passing FNP Board Exam - 2019

Hello everyone! I promised myself that I would write this post when I passed my FNP Board Exam in order to help other students out.

Like you, I looked onto these forums for advice on what I should utilize to appropriately study for the exam. Im not sure if it may have just been me, but I found myself calculating the costs of what it will take for me to pass. I am not your typical working NP student, during the course of my university studies I had to undergo several medical treatments and eventually spinal surgery 4 months before my exam to regain function in my leg so I really hope this serves as an inspirational post to instill confidence that you all have what it takes to pass!

With that being said, I did not have left over money to be throwing towards review courses or books, so below is how I studied to pass!

1. APEA Q-Bank: My university required us to purchase the Q-bank in order to graduate. Honestly this is the most expensive part of this entire post. The university requirement was to purchase all three parts [Assessment, Prescribing and Management]. This Q-Bank provides you with around 3,800 questions to answer. In all honesty, I only did the Management portion of it and never touched the other two sections. I believe the APEA Q-Bank really went into every topic that would be covered on the actual Board Exam. Their questions topics are high yield and offer good explanations on why the question was answered correctly/incorrectly. Using questions from the beginning of your studying journey will really help you wrap your head around the way questions are worded and what they truly want you to get out of the question and I felt like that was invaluable! The way I utilized the Q bank was each week I choose a topic to complete. I set around 3-4 days to complete the questions within that topic (i.e. Dermatology, Cardiology etc) and the rest of the days within that week to dwell into the weak area/missed questions and really understand the pathophysiology and management of patients that present with that particular issue.
2. OnlineMedEd: This was a lifesaver. This online platform is completely free and usually utilized by medical students to help cover high yield material that may present on their exams. It is completely free and organized by topic with each video ranging around 20-30 minutes. The methodology Dr. Williams covers all the topics in a way to really get a good grasp of the disease process. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. This is what I would refer back to on any question that I missed during Q-Bank and needed a more in-depth breakdown. I basically took down all my own notes and reviewed them frequently.
3. Practice Exams:
   • 2 APEA Predictor Exams: Initially my university hosted the first APEA Predictor exam as it was instilled in tuition costs. First exam I scored a 63% - this is the score that really motivated me to study because I knew that score was not good enough to pass boards. I took my second APEA exam 2 days before my exam after utilizing the QBank Questions and OnlineMedEd and scored a 77%.
   • 2 PSI Practice Exams: I took both of these exams 3 and 4 days prior to my scheduled exam, respectively. First PSI I took I scored a 77%, second PSI I scored an 81%. PSI exam format was exactly the same as the actual board exam so being familiar with the exam format helped calm my nerves a bit when it came to the actual exam.
   • Both practice exams I would say are reflective of the level of difficulty of the actual board exam. If you had to spend your money, I would recommend saving some to take practice exams. I didn't want to take them too early into my studying session because I didn't want to freak myself out when I was not even through with all the study material yet. I choose to take them closer to my exam date because I wanted to really assess my capability of passing..and if I were to have scored low, I would just simply reschedule my exam.
4. Time Management: I started studying 3 months before my actual scheduled exam. Timing yourself and making sure you are moving appropriately through the topic in a timely fashion is what will help you ensure that you give yourself enough time to study everything. For me, I did not have the extra money to put into purchasing several Q-banks or several review books like Leik or Fitzgerald. I never really had the opportunity to open those books and see the formatting of them however I will ensure you that if you put in the quality time to comprehend this material, it is definitely doable to pass!

I am in no means doubting other resources ability to prepare you however, I only had the ability to choose my top 2-3 low cost resources to pass my boards. I do agree that you need a variety of resources just to make sure your review is comprehensive, I don't believe that it should be costing you hundreds of dollars. It is not easy but do the questions, study the topics, assess where you are at with practice exams and then breathe when you get your PASSED score at the end! I believe in you, it will all be worth it.

Please let me know if y'all have any questions! best of luck?