It's Just Math-Unless It's Toxic!

The objective was to determine emergency medicine residents' ability to perform pharmaceutical calculations.

A six-question needs-assessment survey of emergency medicine residents was conducted at a citywide conference in 2016. Residents performed simple pharmaceutical calculations and were queried regarding resources they typically use to aid in performing calculations.

Fifty-three emergency medicine residents out of 110 attendees (48%) completed the survey (postgraduate year [PGY]-1 n = 27, PGY-2 n = 13, PGY-3 n = 8, PGY-4 or above n = 5). Nearly 80% (n = 42) of all residents responded correctly to at least four of six questions (PGY-1 = 70%, PGY-2 = 86%, PGY-3 = 88%, and PGY-4 and above = 100%). Sixty-five percent of PGY-1s, 50% of PGY-2s, and 75% of PGY-3s thought that it was very important to correctly perform basic calculations. Google and Up To Date were frequently used to assist with calculations. More than 70% of all residents utilize clinical pharmacy (PharmD) staff for calculating doses. PharmD services were available at all times in the majority of survey responses.

Emergency medicine residents performed poorly when completing pharmaceutical calculations. This may contribute to increased patient morbidity and mortality. Internet resource use increased as the years of training increased. PharmD services were extensively utilized by all resident regardless of years of training.