The Myth of Multitasking and What It Means for Future Pharmacists.

The primary purposes of this study were to determine the extent to which multitasking affects the speed and accuracy with which Doctor of Pharmacy students identify prescription errors and whether there is a relationship between students' self-perception of their multitasking ability and their actual ability. One hundred twenty-one second-year pharmacy students enrolled in the required course Introduction to Dosage Forms spent one week in an experimental (multitasking) condition and one week in a control (undistracted) condition. Subjects were given 10 minutes to check 10 prescriptions and record any identified filling errors.

Effect of Collaborative vs. Noncollaborative Quizzes on Examination Scores in a Pharmaceutical Calculations Course.

Objective: To determine if midterm and final examination scores in a pharmaceutical calculations course differ among students who take weekly quizzes collaboratively, noncollaboratively, or half-collaboratively/half-noncollaboratively ("mixed").

Methods: One hundred twenty-three students enrolled in one of 4 laboratory sections: collaborative, noncollaborative, or mixed sections. Students working noncollaboratively completed a 15-minute quiz at the end of weekly laboratories.