I receive many emails about how shocked someone may be about not succeeding another NPTE exam. When asking for details, there are common reasons that I see continue to plague those taking the National Physical Therapy Exam. There are many reasons but most of them can be lumped into these five categories:
Limited NPTE Preparation Time
Not taking the time to understand what you are doing right and what needs to be changed for the next PT exam. In many emails, I’ll get “I have no idea what went wrong.” When digging deeper, there are various factors that play into not succeeding and a few standout reasons are the lack of planning or time commitment. Some candidates actually mentioned that they procrastinated and became overwhelmed during the short time period. Deep down they knew they should have postponed but didn’t. When not taking time to analyze the situation, makes it so much harder to work on areas to improve for a successful attempt.
Not Taking the Time to Understand the NPTE Format
Thinking that you understand the format of the exam but continue to study academically. I’ll tend to get emails that state “I have been through the exam x number of times and I know how to study but I just don’t understand why I didn’t pass.” The reason tends to be that although someone may be studying for months on end, there’s actually a difference on how to approach studying for the NPTE and studying for other standardized exams. Most people admit to me that they really don’t know the content format of the exam and hence they go with the academic studying of reading chapter to chapter. This isn’t the most effective way as patients are not just this condition or that condition but rather integrated and that’s where a lot of the study guides fail at portraying studying clinically. This can be taught and makes it easier to retain information rather than relying on memorizing information.
Here I find that most are trying to find the shortcut ways to just passing and looking for the quick-give-me the answer or what can I just memorize. This isn’t the way for a entry level physical therapist to practice of barely understanding the information that will be needed for practice. The other mistake is not focusing on a person’s weakness or what the NPTE emphasizes on. For example, I would get emails about people not studying the Musculoskeletal system but yet this system makes up more than 30% of the NPTE. How can anyone pass by not strengthening in this area? It’s hard and this system leads to understanding other systems.
Not Effectively Utilizing NPTE Practice Exams
Taking any and all practice exams continuously to “simulate” the exam. I’ll get emails of where to get NPTE practice exams but know that most out there are not up to NPTE standards. This NPTE practice exam does simulate with the full length number of questions and a hard time limit. By just taking any physical therapy board exam, you may find that they actually focus more on the academic and memorization rather than understanding the information clinically. Here this fails a lot of people and even the ones in the study guides can have errors and wrong rationales. Taking practice exam after practice exam is not studying but falls into hoping to see a question similar on the exam and recalling the information. Keep in mind that the multiple choice questions for the NPTE are not derived from textbooks.
Ignoring Recommendations When Not Ready
Ignoring the advice of not ready because of ego and stubbornness. No one likes to be told that they are not ready but when there are clear signs of not being ready such as low practice exam scores, so many guesses, not fully understanding the material or how to properly choose an answer then it’s best to hold off. Other reasons to hold off are when anxiety is detrimental where there’s low self-confidence. One of the keys that help in Therapy Exam Prep’s NPTE exam prep course is the very accurate assessments and guidelines of being ready. Those that follow the advice are ones that succeed. Those that insist to rush when not ready don’t see a great result to come back state “I should have listened to you.”
Fear of the NPTE
One of the important reason that prevents a lot of people from passing is fear and not having enough confidence to pass. Fear creates doubt and doubt leads to overanalysis that produces low scores on the PT exam. Fear is the hardest characteristic to get rid of and until that is addressed properly, the scores will end up repeating. This is just one of the first factors Therapy Exam Prep addresses so that candidates can have a better outcome.
No matter how many attempts someone may have, all of the reasons can be changed to have success. One of the keys to success is controlling the mindset. When focusing on the positive and wanting success, all these factors can be reduced. After not passing, I recommend reaching out to understand areas to improve on and get the help to succeed!