Lately, I have been asked by several candidates “Are the NPTE questions based on textbooks?” The short answer is “No.”
Let me repeat the answer: “No.” The questions for the NPTE or NPTAE are not written based on textbooks. No candidate should be misled with this information as it is FALSE guidance.
I have been through the FSBPT NPTE workshop training for writing questions where the emphasis is writing in a practical and clinical way where the answers are referenced in textbooks for accuracy.
The NPTE and NPTAE questions are NOT derived by going to the textbooks as this would entail a more academic recall and memorization question format. Thinking that the questions are written based on the textbooks leads to candidates missing important information and therefore causing lower scores on the practice exams.
Why do they provide a list of textbooks that the programs use then?
The textbook list that the FSBPT provides is based on a survey given to professors from the different programs on what they use in the classroom. These textbooks provide guidance to the question writer to use to verify information is correct and up to date.
The guidance that you should read these books “thoroughly” is misguided as the majority of the questions can’t be covered. You would spend too much time reading information that is not tested.
What about journals and articles?
I see questions on Facebook where journal articles are used and this isn’t how questions are written. Evidence and results can change and therefore no questions are referenced to journals and articles. The question writers use their clinical and practical experience to create NPTE questions that would test the entry-level candidate on commonalities to be safe and competent. The answers to those questions are referenced from textbooks to ensure their accuracy. Let me repeat this again: the answers are checked for accuracy from textbooks only to justify their correctness.
Therapy Exam Prep has written questions that follow exactly the FSBPT guidelines for NPTE or NPTAE with the most up to date and current format. This includes writing questions that present real-life case scenarios with information that can be referenced from textbooks for accuracy. The questions are written to challenge the candidate to think beyond the academic foundations by applying their knowledge in a more integrated, comprehensive and clinical way. Candidates can now get comfortable preparing for the real exam with our NPTE practice exam simulation.
As clinicians, we have to remember that patients are not presented as just simple conditions or one particular topic such as just an ankle sprain. Patients in real life are more integrated and complex than what is found in textbooks as we have to consider all the different systems that can affect them when providing treatment.
Again to emphasize, the NPTE or NPTAE questions are NOT written based on the textbooks or journal articles.