Counting on Change: Conquering Challenges in Teaching Pharmaceutical Calculations.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Patient Safety
• Pharmaceutical Calculations

Background:

• Pharmacists require accurate pharmaceutical calculation skills for patient safety.
• Recent trends show declining performance in calculation sections of the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination.
• This decline impacts pharmacy administration, faculty, students, and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors affecting students' pharmaceutical calculation abilities.
• To discuss the consequences of diminished mathematical proficiency in pharmacy.
• To advocate for enhanced scholarship of teaching and learning and administrative support.

Main Methods:

• This is a commentary, not an empirical study.
• Analysis of trends in pharmaceutical calculation performance.
• Discussion of contributing factors and potential solutions.

Main Results:

• Factors impacting students' calculation abilities are presented.
• Consequences of declining math skills are discussed.
• A call to action for educational and administrative improvements is made.

Conclusions:

• Addressing declining pharmaceutical calculation skills is crucial for patient safety.
• Increased focus on teaching and learning scholarship is needed.
• Enhanced administrative support is essential to rectify this challenge.