(174) Making the Calculations Curriculum Count

Objective : Data from the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) indicates Domain 4 Perform Calculations is an area where graduates underperform nationally. The objective of this study was to identify opportunities to infuse calculations instruction, application, and assessment throughout the didactic, skills lab, and experiential curriculum, with a focus on NAPLEX preparedness.

Methods: Since the college does not have a singular calculations course, a small working group of faculty took a concentrated approach to reviewing calculations content across the curriculum, including the breadth and depth of assessment of calculations. The working group reviewed syllabi for all required courses, as well as relevant quizzes, exams, and other assessments. The process included mapping of curricular calculations content, assessments, and yearly calculations milestone examinations to the NAPLEX blueprint. Recommendations were presented to the curriculum committee.

Results: Review of calculations content and milestones identified opportunities for enhancement in the areas of patient parameters, dose conversions, nutritional needs, and biostatistics. Milestone examinations were updated with additional questions on these topics. Additional pharmacokinetic cases were incorporated in the patient care course series and skills laboratories, and skills lab faculty also implemented calculations questions in prelab quizzes where applicable. Within the experiential environment, additional practice calculations were added to required IPPE workbooks and APPE activities.

Conclusions: Systematic curricular review provided opportunities to identify, reinforce, add and better assess calculations concepts within current courses. Next steps include assessment of performance on annual calculations milestones and NAPLEX to evaluate the impact of changes to the calculations curriculum.