If you’re studying for the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), you need to have an NPTE prep book. Without one, you are making the study process excessively hard and are playing with fire when it comes to passing this thing on exam day.

Plenty of students every year want to know what the best exam prep book is, and in this blog post, I’ve got you covered.

The best prep book is whichever one you can get your hands on. It’s best to buy one new book from a reputable brand and buy a used one for only a few dollars from another reputable brand. This gives you access to practice exams, provides as much information as possible, and saves you money.

The two most popular companies out there for prep books are Scorebuilders and Therapy Ed (Often referred to as “O’Sullivan’s” by PT students). Each has its unique advantages, which I’ll be discussing within this post. I have no affiliation or loyalty to either. I just tend to advocate for students to get one of each, with one being brand new and the other being a used version by the other company.

It may sound like unconventional advice, but it makes perfect sense, and I’ll explain why in detail within this article. Be sure to keep on reading if you’re curious about this rationale and how having two prep books will help save you a world of time and trouble (while costing you only a couple of extra dollars).

ARTICLE OVERVIEW

(Click/tap the following headlines to jump to that particular section of the article.)

• Why you need a prep book
• The two major companies for NPTE prep books (and benefits of each)
• Why you need a brand new book
• Why you need a used book from another company

Related Article: When Should You Begin Studying for the NPTE?

Why you need a prep book

When it comes to preparing for the NPTE, a prep book is a must, as you are essentially studying three years’ worth of graduate coursework material. Aside from this being an exorbitant volume of material to know (which would otherwise require over a dozen textbooks), there are many interpretations and variations of how physical therapists must act on this material. Let’s look at each of these a bit more closely:

Accurate information

A good NPTE prep book will provide you with the specific values, ranges, and procedures that are in alignment with what the Federation of State Boards for Physical Therapy (FSBPT) deem to be accurate. This means that information within a reputable company such as Scorebuilders and Therapy Ed will provide the specifics on your study material that will reflect the correct answer on the NPTE.

A prep book serves as a centralized source for referencing and studying material that you know will be deemed accurate by the FSBPT.

As a very basic (and probably overly simplistic) example, a certain textbook not endorsed by the FSBT may have slightly different information, such as ankle-brachial index values (ABI), when determining vascular compromise in the lower extremity. A given textbook may define a mild blockage within the range of 0.7 – 0.95, whereas the textbook that the FSBPT draws their values from will state it is within the range of 0.8 – 0.99. While this specific example isn’t all that realistic, it illustrates the point that slight variations within literature exist. As a result, you want to make sure you get your information from a source whom you know has answers in line with what the FSBT considers accurate.

There are many times where slightly different values, procedures, and bits of information differ from one source to the next. As a student studying for such an important exam, you want to have peace of mind that the material you’re studying from reflects the exact same details and pieces of information that will show up on the exam.

Consolidation of learning material

Three years’ worth of information to study and memorize across a vast array of physical therapy curricula equates to a truckload of material. As a result, you’d likely need dozens of textbooks to reference all of the material spanning across the various domains of your coursework. Not only would purchasing all of these textbooks be astronomically expensive, but it would also be incredibly impractical. The amount of time (and physical space) that you’d need to use just to continually find bits of information from one book to the next would make for an incredibly inefficient study process.

Related article: How PT Students Can Recover From Failing the NPTE Board Exam

By having an NPTE study book (not to mention a dirt-cheap used one from another company), you have the ultimate consolidation of the most important material you need to know for your exam. This consolidated material is guaranteed to show up on your exam in some way, shape or form.

A brand new NPTE book will run you around the ballpark price of $90 (USD), while a used one can be found online for likely around just $10. Just make sure that your used one is from a different company (I’ll explain why in the following sections).

The two major companies for NPTE prep books (and benefits of each)

When it comes to reputable prep book companies, Scorebuilders and Therapy Ed (O’Sullivan) are the two major players. There are others out there that are also valuable; however, these two, in particular, are the big boys in the world of NPTE prep. Each tends to have some solid points and weak points (as experienced by myself and many other students). Let’s look at each in a bit more detail:

Scorebuilders

Scorebuilders was the book that I primarily used for studying for my exam. Their books are known for having helpful images and photos, which comes in quite handy since a picture is often worth a thousand words. While I often found the presentation and layout within the book to be quite acceptable and helpful, I did occasionally find myself wishing that a bit more detail could have been provided on critical topics.

This point mentioned above is a sentiment offered by many other PT students, as you would easily find if you were to head into various online forums. A few of my classmates echoed this sentiment as well throughout the study process.

Scorebuilders provides three practice exams with the purchase of their book. I found the exams to be decent, but they weren’t my favorite. However, this doesn’t make their exams any less beneficial as ANY practice exam is invaluable. You should always strive to take practice exams from multiple sources.

Therapy Ed (O’Sullivan)

Therapy Ed is known for having prep books with more significant amounts of detail than when contrasted with Scorebuilders. Again, a general search online will yield similar sentiments by various PT students in online forums. While this is a nice contrast from Scorebuilders, students often feel that the material sometimes is a bit too detailed in terms of the level of knowledge required of the student for the actual exam.

While detail is undoubtedly a good thing, Therapy Ed tends to be lighter on the visuals throughout their books. This means that it may be a bit harder to grasp certain concepts or topics since you may not come across a helpful visual aid to go along with their written text. However, keep in mind that this particular point is also somewhat of an arbitrary point, as different students will draw different conclusions based on their individual needs.

A new Therapy Ed Book, just like Scorebuilders, will come with a set of practice exams that you can utilize throughout your study endeavors. Students often remark that they find these Therapy Ed exams more challenging than other practice exams, which is certainly not a bad thing in the slightest. It may be frustrating to receive lower scores on these exams when taking them; however, my personal belief is that it only strengthens you for the actual exam itself.

Why you need a brand new book

There are two main reasons why you want a brand new prep book. The first reason is that a brand new prep book (from either company) will provide you with the set of practice exams for which you’ll want to have access. These exams have to be registered online by using the unique code provided within the book.

Practice exams are absolutely invaluable for preparing for the NPTE, and heading into the real-deal exam itself without taking any practice exams is highly suicidal in terms of not passing.

The second reason for purchasing a new book is that it ensures that you’re receiving the latest and most up-to-date information pertaining to the material you’re studying. Accepted values and procedures can change based on generalized medical consensus. As a result, you want to make sure that you’re studying material that is not outdated in any way.

It’s highly unlikely that a brand new book will have high volumes of information that differs from a previous version. As such, any changes within the material will likely only be relatively slight. Nonetheless, having added peace of mind about studying up-to-date information is one little added reassurance on your path to passing the NPTE.

Why you need a used book from another company

While certainly not necessary, there are great benefits to purchasing a used NPTE book from a different company than from whom you purchased your new book.

A used book will only cost you a couple of dollars, making it a very inexpensive piece of insurance for which you can cross-reference study material. A quick google search for “used NPTE prep book” will yield all sorts of results for such books that can be purchased for only a handful of dollars.

You won’t have access to the practice exams (which is one of the big reasons why you picked up a new book). Still, you’ll have a reputable book that you can use when your new book doesn’t cover a topic you want to study or doesn’t provide enough information.

Concluding remarks

You need a prep book when preparing for the NPTE. When it comes to the “best” NPTE prep book to get, you’ll very likely be just fine with a book from either Scorebuilders or Therapy Ed. Both are very reputable companies and have helped tens of thousands of PT students pass their exams. Each will cost you approximately the same amount of dollars for a brand new book while providing you with access to a set of practice exams in the process.

But, if you’re serious about giving yourself the best chances possible for passing the NPTE on your first attempt, then it’s likely a wise move to pick up a used book in addition to your new book. Just make sure that this used book is from a different company than your new book. It’ll only cost a couple of dollars for a used version and will provide a highly valuable resource for which you can cross-reference with your new book. It will also allow you to “fill in the gaps” that may exist within your other book.

As the old survival saying goes, “two is one, and one is none.”

Grind hard. You’ve got this!