MPharm students’ views and experiences of the teaching of pharmaceutical calculations and their importance in pharmacy practice

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Accurately undertaking pharmaceutical calculations is an important professional skill as part of a pharmacist’s role ensuring patient safety1. Effective teaching in this area supports safe, high-quality care from future pharmacists. In the United Kingdom, the need to accurately perform calculations is stipulated in the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards for initial education and training of pharmacists2. During a review of teaching in this area, the views and experiences of pharmacy students were sought, in order to inform course design. Aim This project aimed to explore undergraduate MPharm students’ views regarding the importance of pharmaceutical calculations to their future careers, experiences of current calculations teaching, and opinions on improving course design. Methods A questionnaire was developed and distributed to Years 1-4 pharmacy students (n=524) at the School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), in December 2023. The questionnaire consisted of 45 questions, collecting demographic information, as well as students’ views and experiences of pharmaceutical calculations, various teaching methods, and student confidence with calculations. Data was transcribed into Microsoft Excel, followed by analysis using descriptive statistics in IBM SPSS. Ethical approval was received from the QUB Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Sciences Research Ethics Committee (MHLS23_159). Results A total of 271 students responded to the questionnaire, providing a response rate of 52%. Students felt that being able to perform calculations is important to their future career, with 97% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with this statement. Hospital pharmacy was considered the sector where calculations were most important (96% agree/ strongly agree). Overall, 75% of respondents agreed/ strongly agreed that they were confident in undertaking pharmaceutical calculations. Students felt most competent using provided formula, and with dose and dosage regimen calculations. Conversely, students felt least competent performing displacement value and dilutions questions. With respect to teaching design, students preferred blended-learning to self-directed study or traditional lectures. Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported blended-learning as beneficial/ very beneficial, compared to 57% and 46% for the other approaches. Students reported formative quizzes as the most beneficial activity for learning (92% beneficial/ very beneficial). This was followed by provision of worked examples, with a preference for handwritten solutions. Recommended textbooks and online discussion boards were considered least beneficial. Having dedicated introductory calculations teaching in Year 1, with repeated opportunities for practice and support in subsequent years had the most support for improving teaching, with 87% stating this would be beneficial/ very beneficial. There was also support for the NUMBAS3 e-assessment system for formative examples, along with video or pencasted worked examples, with 80% and 70% of respondents respectively classing these as beneficial/ very beneficial. Discussion / Conclusion QUB MPharm students appreciate the importance of pharmaceutical calculations to their future careers. They prefer a blended-learning approach to teaching, incorporating formative quizzes and worked examples. Dedicated Year 1 teaching, the use of NUMBAS, and pencasting were identified as methods to improve teaching. These findings will aid future course design, with the aim of improving patient safety relating to pharmaceutical calculations.