So I just got my results this morning and I actually passed the FLS exam on my third attempt. I'm a PGY-2 surgical resident and honestly the first two times I just tried to wing it with some quick reading. Big mistake. The pharmacology and pharmacokinetics sections absolutely destroyed me — I had no idea how deep they went into drug metabolism pathways.
What finally turned it around was committing to a structured study guide instead of just skimming review PDFs. I spent about 6 weeks, roughly 45 minutes a day, and I leaned heavily on FLS practice test questions to figure out where my gaps actually were. Doing timed blocks exposed that I was consistently missing questions on opioid equivalencies and reversal agents, which I then drilled hard.
For anyone currently prepping: don't underestimate the practical component either. I almost over-studied the written stuff and nearly forgot to review the manual skills criteria. Happy to answer questions about the written portion specifically if anyone's in the thick of it.