Michael A Hegener1, Shauna M Buring, Elizabeth Papas. 1. University of Cincinnati, James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, 3225 Eden Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0004, USA. michael.hegener@uc.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students' mathematics ability by content area before and after completing a required pharmaceutical calculations course and to analyze changes in scores. METHODS: A mathematics skills assessment was administered to 2 cohorts of pharmacy students (class of 2013 and 2014) before and after completing a pharmaceutical calculations course. The posttest was administered to the second cohort 6 months after completing the course to assess knowledge retention. RESULTS: Both cohorts performed significantly better on the posttest (cohort 1, 13% higher scores; cohort 2, 15.9% higher scores). Significant improvement on posttest scores was observed in 6 of the 10 content areas for cohorts 1 and 2. Both cohorts scored lower in percentage calculations on the posttest than on the pretest. CONCLUSIONS: A required, 1-credit-hour pharmaceutical calculations course improved PharmD students' overall ability to perform fundamental and application-based calculations.
OBJECTIVE: To assess doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students' mathematics ability by content area before and after completing a required pharmaceutical calculations course and to analyze changes in scores. METHODS: A mathematics skills assessment was administered to 2 cohorts of pharmacy students (class of 2013 and 2014) before and after completing a pharmaceutical calculations course. The posttest was administered to the second cohort 6 months after completing the course to assess knowledge retention. RESULTS: Both cohorts performed significantly better on the posttest (cohort 1, 13% higher scores; cohort 2, 15.9% higher scores). Significant improvement on posttest scores was observed in 6 of the 10 content areas for cohorts 1 and 2. Both cohorts scored lower in percentage calculations on the posttest than on the pretest. CONCLUSIONS: A required, 1-credit-hour pharmaceutical calculations course improved PharmD students' overall ability to perform fundamental and application-based calculations.