The battle of the NPTE prep practice exams, more specifically Scorebuilders vs. TherapyEd aka O’Sullivan. Let me preface this by saying this is only my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of rehabstudents.com or anyone else associated with the site.

I hate reading something that blabs on, on, and on when all I really care about is the bulleted talking points, so here are my quick bulleted points. Remember these reviews only cover the provided CD practice tests and are not reviews of the actual study guides themselves. Those are coming later… much later as I am sooo busy doing my hair.

I have taken a few screen shots of each test to give a better understanding of what I am talking about, but I did not take any of the actual tests mainly because I don’t feel like being sued.

Scorebuilders

http://www.scorebuilders.com/

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Actual test is similar to the PEAT and I would imagine the actual NPTE. Each section is broken up into blocks of 50 with a 15-minute break after 100 questions.

You can mark questions to be reviewed so you can go back prior to submitting that block of 50 questions.

I am not 100% positive on this one but I think you cannot submit the 50-question block until you have answered each question. So basically you can’t forget to answer a question.

The break down following the test was informative and semi-easy to navigate.

The printed answer sheet tells you what answer you picked vs. the correct one. So when you look back in the book for the explanation you can see what you chose.

Similar to the PEAT, each question is referenced with a page number so know where to start looking if the provided rationale doesn’t quite do it for you.

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I felt the questions were too easy when compared to the PEAT and O’Sullivan.

The user interface seemed a bit out dated and not the greatest when trying to look at the break down of your scores.

The score results make it hard to find out the answers to your incorrect questions by category. The interface doesn’t allow you to view only incorrect answers. The user ends up scrolling through all the questions.

TherapyEd aka O’Sullivan

http://www.therapyed.com/nptexamreview.htm

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The questions seemed similar to those in the PEAT; they seemed more situational based and overall tougher when compared to Scorebuilders.

The user interface is very easy to use.

You can “Create an Exam”, which basically means you can pick and choose the subjects you want to be tested on along with the 3 included tests.

You are able to go through your missed questions in the software but you still need the book for full explanations.

Very few questions based on straight memorization.

Easy to use interface allowing the user to look through incorrect questions easily by category.

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The test did not break the test up into 50 question sections like the NPTE nor was there time allowed for a break.

You can and probably will skip a question or two by accident when taking this test. (I did twice, not very happy about it).

After you finished the test, the graded answer sheet doesn’t tell you what answer you picked, only whether you got it correct or not.

Most of the longer clinical scenario questions did not have a detailed answer for them in the book.

The questions are not referenced so you do not know exactly where to look if you have additional questions about the answer or rational.

Someone by the name Marmite22 has created 27 “sets” of online flashcard over various categories covered on the NPTE over at quizlet.com. They are mostly based from IER aka TherapyEd’s review book aka the O’Sullivan review book and some from Scorebuilders. This should be a welcomed tool for those of us taking the NPTE before June 30. Let me know if you guys find this helpful.

Click here for the list of flashcard sets

As I enter the very end stretch of my latest clinical rotation at a school district, I thought I would write a little ditty on my thoughts and findings.

Let me just start by saying, if my life didn’t revolve around money this is the perfect job for me. For some people money isn’t everything, but for someone who is looking at 120k+ debt I am pretty much looking to whore myself out to the highest bidder… ok maybe not the highest bidder, but I would like to make more than peanuts especially considering I will have a doctorate!

So you are probably sitting there saying to yourself, “Don, why is this the perfect job for you???” Well I am so glad you asked! Let me explain.

**Disclaimer** This is just my experiences, everyone will have different experiences. So don’t take what I say to be the final word.

Like:  The schedule

My typical day started around 8am. I saw my first kid around 9:30am and I was out the door no later than 3pm. I have off every major holiday as well as winter break, spring break, and any other break you can think of. I get the summers off!!

Like: The variety

Each child/patient is different. I saw a wide range of orthopedic, neurological, and developmental cases in a short span of time. I learned about things I never knew existed. It was a complete revelation to see the other side to schools not a lot of people usually get a chance to see. As students you just show up and learn, but watching and working with the teachers it stunned me how much went into each day. It made me truly appreciate teachers more than I already do.

Like: The interaction with other disciplines

I always find other disciplines fascinating. I think its because I really don’t know what each one truly does. So working in the schools I was able to see speech, OT, and vision do their thing and gain some insight into what they actually do

Dislike: The pay

It’s not a whole lot. However, to be fair you do get 3 months off during the summer and then every break/holiday imaginable. So you could work PRN and make a nice chunk of change to supplement.

Dislike: Limited skill set

Ok let me just say before someone writes all pissed off about this. This was my experience so I am sure there is quite the variety requiring you to use all your knowledge, but for me it wasn’t the case. So I would worry about losing some skills. Keep in mind you do have the flexibility with your schedule that you can work PRN elsewhere to stay sharp.

Dislike: IEP meetings

I know they are a part of the job and I am fine with that. What I dislike is the wasted time. I can understand the need for the teachers and other support staff to be there the whole time, but why does the PT need to sit through all this stuff that has nothing to do with us?? I could be out golfing! Kidding…. Or am I?

At the end of the day I look back and really enjoyed my last clinical. I wish you were paid more, but I loved the schedule and the lifestyle it afforded me. I was done and out the door by 3pm and I didn’t have to take my work home with me. And come on for 7 weeks I played catch, toss across,

Like any other setting this isn’t for everyone, but there are worse places out there.

I have been sitting here going through my review for the NPTE. I know that many of us would rather live in the world of muscle and bones, however without the neurological anatomy providing the hard wiring for all those muscle and bones we wouldn’t function at all.

This is why I have decided to include a little neurological anatomy review to refresh those of us who tend to dwell in the realm of Orthopedics.

I heard that groan !…. Trust me its not as bad as it sounds. Read the full story

As most of my close friends know I have no sympathy for anyone who loses an important file because their computer died or for some other crazy reason. You might say geez Don’s a real a-hole! But I say no sir/ma’am! I have and always will continue to say those 3 little words every nerd knows and loves, “backup your stuff“. There are free services out there that do it automatically so there is no excuse!

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about just sit still and keep reading because you soon will!

Let me start off this review by saying I currently use both services and love each one in their own special way. So think of me like a parent who tries not to favor one child over another but secretly I do…. but I will never admit which one! There are plenty of services out there similar to these two, but I just happen to only use these two on my laptop (running windows 7)

www.dropbox.com

Dropbox is the easiest way to store, sync, and, share files online. There’s no complicated interface to learn. Dropbox works seamlessly with your operating system and automatically makes sure your files are up-to-date. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

To get started you need to download and install the client on each of your computers and then login or signup if you do not already have an account.  After that the installer will create a single Dropbox folder on your computer, you do have the ability to choose where that folder is located. Any folder or file placed in this Dropbox folder will be synced online and across any other computers linked to your account. It does not say if there is a limit to how many computers can be synced so I take that as saying there is no limit.

Dropbox has 3 different plans:

• Basic which is free and comes with 2gb of storage (you have the ability to get up to 16gb of storage free by referring friends)
• Pro 50 which costs $9.99/month and comes with 50gb of storage
• Pro 100 which costs $19.99/month and comes with 100gb of storage

I am very much a cut and dry give me the facts and no fluff, so for those of you like myself here are the important highlights.

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to 100GB available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Undelete files and folders.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.
• Shared folders allow several people to collaborate on a set of files.
• 30 days of undo history, with unlimited undo available as a paid option.
• Online access to all of your flies.
• Dropbox application for iPhone, iPad, and Android. (a mobile version of the website is available for blackberry phones)

www.syncplicity.com

Syncplicity delivers powerful, easy to use file management in the cloud. Syncplicity automatically syncs your files across all your computers, backs up your data, and makes sharing files and collaborating easier than ever before.

The initial setup is very similar to dropbox with the exception of what files are backed up. With syncplicity you choose which folders and files will be backed up without having to move them to a designated folder like with dropbox. Once your files are synced and backed up, you can then view them online or on another computer you have installed the client software on. It is worth noting that in the free version they have a limit of only 2 computers that can be synced.

Syncplicity has 3 different plans with too many additional addons to mention:

• Personal Edition which is free and comes with 2gb of storage (you have the ability to get up to 5gb of storage free by referring friends)
• Personal Edition w/support which costs $15/month and comes with 50gb of storage
• Business Edition which starts at $45/month and comes with 50gb of storage with 3 users (unlimited users and storage are also available)

Important highlights

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to unlimited storage available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows and Mac.
• Undelete files and folders.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.
• Shared folders allow several people to collaborate on a set of files.
• Online access to all of your flies.
• Link your google docs to your syncplicity account.
• 30 days of undo history, with unlimited undo available as a paid option.

Obviously they share a lot of similarities and some people will like one while others like another. I think these two are both great products and best of all free!

As I continue to sort through my “PT School” folder on my computer desktop I came across this a while back and didn’t think much of it until I found out the Hosford Muscle Tables now cost money! I am all for people making money and have no problems with charging for something you work hard at creating. I think the Hosford Tables are top notch and they are only $3 bucks for the full thing.

Now with that being said I am all about freebies. That’s why I try and spend as much time as possible at Costco and Sams Club for the free samples! Someone in my class (2011) had originally started this table and it has been passed along to the class of 2012 and then to the 13′s. So I just wanted to give a big thanks to all involved in this!

These tables are suited more for Physical Therapy so keep that in mind! We are not perfect and there may be errors or misspellings, if you come across any or feel like improving the tables we will be more than happy to send you the editable file. Also no two anatomy books will be identical especially when it comes to nerves, always go off what your teacher says and not what our tables say!

Good luck and happy studying!!

Muscle Tables

Link: Muscle Tables
Version:
Downloaded: 984 times
Description: Information about the skeletal muscles of the human body. Included is each muscle\'s origin, insertion, action, and innervation.

Its no secret among my friends how much I love anything google and especially my moto DROID. I am all about technology and anything that helps me organize my scattered mind, so enter 3banana. The company that owns 3banana is snaptic.com, I am not really sure how they came up with the name 3banana but hey its not my call!

You can either signup for an account at snaptic.com OR OR OR use your google.com login, which is what I did.

It’s a super simple programs with a nice user interface. The main screen has a text box to enter in whatever your heart desires with an option to take a photo. Another feature is the ability to tag your notes. The # with text next to it makes it a tag. So for example I took a picture of this interesting bottle of wine I wanted to research later, I would just tag it #wine #research or whatever else I wanted to tag it with.

3banana also includes a widget for quick access to add a text and picture note. I use the widget on my home screen, it makes note taking dead simple and super fast.  For those of you who really need a reminder constantly in your face you have the ability to pin a note to your home screen.

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