Blueprints to success

When preparing for the PEBC Pharmacist Qualifying Exams (both OSCE and MCQ) and the OCP Jurisprudence exam two resources that I printed and used from the beginning were the examination blueprints provided for both exams.

Here are screen shots and links to the blueprints:

http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3139/la_id/1.htm

 

http://www.ocpinfo.com/client/ocp/OCPHome.nsf/d12550e436a1716585256ac90065aa1c/750a3262c13b9c4e85257b3400487a3e?OpenDocument&Highlight=2,jurisprudence

 

These blueprints literally break down the exam content for you. They tell you the pertinent sections that will be covered and their percent on the exams.

From my personal experience I read these before I started studying in order to get a general idea of what would be on the exam. I also highlighted the top three most heavily weighted sections (the ones that would have the most questions on the exams) in order to really remember these as I started to read and look over notes.

Midway through my time studying I went back and looked again at the blueprints in order to make sure I was on the right track. At that time I also looked to see if there were any points that I did not recognize or know so that I could make sure I did not forget to study those.

At the end (probably about 1-2 weeks before the exams) I again looked at the blueprints to make sure I had covered everything. I also used this as a semi test for myself. For example, with the OCP Jurisprudence Blueprint I made sure I knew all the terms and could define them for myself or knew what they were referring to. If there was something I could not remember I went back to my notes and covered those points.

I really found these blueprints useful tools to guide my studying. One of the scariest parts of the examinations is not knowing what to expect but these lists are great ways to ease the nerves and get an idea of what will be asked and how.