Design and evaluation of an application-based pharmaceutical calculations review module.

Background And Purpose: To describe the design of an application-based calculations review module, determine retention of skills learned in a calculations course, determine student ability to identify information necessary to solve calculations, and evaluate student perceptions.

Educational Activity And Setting: Three student cohorts completed the calculations application-based review module. All students passed a required pharmaceutical calculations course previously (17 months prior for Cohort 1 and nine months prior for Cohorts 2 and 3).

Point-of-care coagulation monitoring: first clinical experience using a paper-based lateral flow diagnostic device.

Vitamin K antagonists such as warfarin are the most widely used class of oral anticoagulants. Due to a narrow therapeutic window, patients on warfarin require regular monitoring. Self-testing using point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices is available, but cost makes this monitoring method beyond reach for many.

Impact of a required pharmaceutical calculations course on mathematics ability and knowledge retention.

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.