Studying and preparing for the NPTE is incredibly stressful and overwhelming. Luckily my last clinical finished 3.5 weeks before the April NPTE. With this I saved much of my studying for this time and treated it as a full time job. Here are my favorite resources that allowed me to significantly improve my scores and pass the NPTE.
Therapy Ed Physical Therapy Course Manual:
I loved this book because it was straight to the point, giving you the most pertinent information with no fluff. It was only ~275 pages and was mainly bullet pointed. I read through this book multiple times making sure to know everything I could from it. I was able to get this book as my program had therapy come in and teach a weekend course. However, you can buy these on Ebay +/- $30. This is one of the best investments you could make.
True Learn
I LOVED this website. You are able to take an initial practice exam, which true learn will let you know what areas you need to focus on. From there, True Learn has a question bank of over 1200 questions. You are able to create small practice test to mix in within your studying. True learn tracks progress, your strengths and weaknesses in each area of the test. When reviewing the questions, true learn gives you the explanation for each answer choice and why it was right or wrong. This feedback along with the immense amount of practice questions allowed me to pick up patterns within the test.
I am happy to say that you are able to get 20% off True Learn NPTE SmartBank subscriptions of 90 days or more using discount code “TommyPT” .
Scorebuilders Textbook
I actually used this very sparingly and only on topics that I found myself struggling and needing more understanding of
Practice Exams(PEAT, Retired NPTE, Scorebuilders, Therapy Ed):
The hardest part of the test is honestly having the endurance to maintain concentration for 4-5 hours. Taking practice test does not only give you feedback on what you know and what you dont know, but also preps you for the endurance of the test. I found the therapy ed and score builders exams to be significantly more difficult than the PEAT or retired NPTE.
I have a theory they do this to scare you to buy more of their products
During the course of my studying I took over 2500 practice questions. I found this to be the most important part of my studying because it allowed me to pick up on patterns that certain answer choices were associated with. Ie if question mentions swelling of first MTP joint Im automatically thinking gout is my main answer. Or teenage boy with a weird hip presentation I would start to think slipped capital femoral epiphysis
Compass Performance 