Basic Pharm math.

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bambur

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I need help!!!!!
First of all, I feel really embarrassed for failing basic math that I learned in second grade.
Would anyone be kind enough to please please please help me, and walk me through this?
I feel like an absolute imbecile...

A patient is to take 1000 mcg of cyanocobalamin weekly, a bottle of 1 mg is in stock. How many does the patient have?

We are repackaging from a stock bottle which contains 4 liters of medicine. We are packaging 100 ml bottles. How many bottles can we package?

The patient is to take 30 micrograms of a drug four times a day. How many milligrams does the patient need for a 10 day supply?

Add the following.
4.2 kg
500 g
300000 mg

Thanks so much for any help.
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Last edited:
Can you please do us, yourself and the profession of pharmacy a favor and quit pharmacy school!
Thanks.
 
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confused.gif
 
Probably, one of those D & F students...
 
If you can't do this in your head.... in under 3 seconds.... somethings wrong!

Base 1,000 conversions...
The - Tera
Great - Giga
Monkey - Mega
King - Kilo
can - centi
make - milli
more - micro
nerds - nano
play - pico
football - femto
 
zidane85 said:
Can you please do us, yourself and the profession of pharmacy a favor and quit pharmacy school!
Thanks.
Click to expand...

OP is trolling. There is no way that someone with that kind of deficiency in basic arithmetic is a pharmacy student. If OP is truly a pharmacy student, pharmacy schools have truly become diploma mills. With that kind of deficiency, I don't think OP would even have a 40 percentile on the PCAT. Therefore, OP is a troll.
 
LOL I think even the janitor can do this without asking for help.
 
Momus said:
Probably, one of those D & F students...
Click to expand...

But but students like OP can become better pharmacists than the good students!!! We should admit more D and F students!!!

B4 I read the questions, I was going to blast everyone on not being helpful... But after I read them, I'm like wtf? Am I missing something here?
 
Temperature101 said:
OP is trolling. There is no way that someone with that kind of deficiency in basic arithmetic is a pharmacy student. If OP is truly a pharmacy student, pharmacy schools have truly become diploma mills. With that kind of deficiency, I don't think OP would even have a 40 percentile on the PCAT. Therefore, OP is a troll.
Click to expand...

You are assuming every school requires the PCAT.

The sad part is that a calculation mistake can seriously hurt someone.
 
It looks more like PTCB stuff.
Maybe he's a Pharm Tech student.
 
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BMBiology said:
You are assuming every school requires the PCAT.

The sad part is that a calculation mistake can seriously hurt someone.
Click to expand...

There are no more than 10 schools that do not require the PCAT...Even so, how did OP get thru some of his math classes (college algebra etc...)?
 
Temperature101 said:
There are no more than 10 schools that do not require the PCAT...Even so, how did OP get thru some of his math classes (college algebra etc...)?
Click to expand...

No way. Schools in California do not require the PCAT so there's already 8 schools
 
Temperature101 said:
There are no more than 10 schools that do not require the PCAT...Even so, how did OP get thru some of his math classes (college algebra etc...)?
Click to expand...

Go to ratemyprofessor.com and pick the easiest one at your community college.
 
BMBiology said:
You are assuming every school requires the PCAT.

The sad part is that a calculation mistake can seriously hurt someone.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is bad to not know these things when you're working in a pharmacy. That's why I asked for help. Thanks to no one here for helping me. I am a pharmacy student. My internship is in summer.
For the record, I've had three math classes already. I did just fine in those classes. I was on the Dean's list.
But now I'm taking the pharmacy math class, and my instructor really sucks. Actually, it's so bad that the majority of the students are doing really bad. One of them went to the other pharmacy instructor (there's two at my school), and talked about how this guy really needs to change his teaching style. It is just ridiculous that so many people are having a hard time following him. And it's terrifying that someone with such bad teaching skills is teaching pharmacy....At this point I have no idea how he hasn't gotten fired from his job as an instructor.
Anyways, I figured out how to do these kinds of problems elsewhere on the internet. I figured someone here would be nice enough to help me, considering it is very important to know these calculations. But I just got flamed for my confusion. I can do the basic math, the story problems weren't computing with me and I had a hard time converting the stories into calculations.
Again, thanks for nothing.
 
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I just don't even know what to say. Please tell me you are trolling
 
To OP, before clicking into this thread, I had every intention of helping u with whatever math problem u had. I'm not a genious when it comes to math problems, so I understand the frustration. But after I read the problems, I was so dumbfounded that I didn't know what to say. I mean you shouldn't even need a pharmacy professor to teach u those things... Those are literally elementary school level math problems. People are flaming you not because they r all jackasses, but bc they seriously can't believe a pharmacy student would have trouble with problems a 12 yo should know how to do...
 
I'm not a math genius either, but the questions in the original post are shockingly simple and can be done in your head in seconds. Those are simply basic math problems.
 
I think you guys are being a little harsh. At least she/he asked for help.
 
BMBiology said:
I think you guys are being a little harsh. At least she/he asked for help.
Click to expand...

I agree. While pharmacy students should be able to do this, the poster obviously knew they should be able to do these things and was embarrassed they didn't know how. Castigating them isn't going to help matters; what's the point? Be nice.
 
All you need to know to do this is the meaning of metric prefixes. If it is really possible for a student to get through their math and science prerequisites without knowing what micro/milli/kilo mean and still get accepted to pharmacy school, then we should all be afraid.
 
If I went to a forum dedicated to student chefs and master chefs and asked them how to prepare milk and cereal for breakfast, I would expect to get flamed too. I am far from being one of those "sharp students" but if you made it this far without knowing how many ml is in a liter - shame on you.
 
owlegrad said:
I wonder if OP is in a 0-6 program? We certainly never had any questions that asked us to add three numbers together. 😕
Click to expand...

If this is the case, and the OP was just starting general chemistry, then a big apology is owed. If this is not the case, it is confusing to say the least.

When I first started General Chemistry, questions like this made me have to think a bit.
 
bambur said:
I need help!!!!!
First of all, I feel really embarrassed for failing basic math that I learned in second grade.
Would anyone be kind enough to please please please help me, and walk me through this?
I feel like an absolute imbecile...

A patient is to take 1000 mcg of cyanocobalamin weekly, a bottle of 1 mg is in stock. How many does the patient have?

We are repackaging from a stock bottle which contains 4 liters of medicine. We are packaging 100 ml bottles. How many bottles can we package?

The patient is to take 30 micrograms of a drug four times a day. How many milligrams does the patient need for a 10 day supply?

Add the following.
4.2 kg
500 g
300000 mg

Thanks so much for any help.
Click to expand...
THIS is the problem with pharmacy today...
 
I figured everything out.... It was my first test of the class, and as I said before I could do the calculations, but the story problems were throwing me off. I appreciate the criticism because I need it. I haven't taken a math course in over a year, it wasn't fresh in my mind. It is embarrassing... I felt like an idiot... But now I understand it. Thanks for all the feedback.
 
bambur said:
I figured everything out.... It was my first test of the class, and as I said before I could do the calculations, but the story problems were throwing me off. I appreciate the criticism because I need it. I haven't taken a math course in over a year, it wasn't fresh in my mind. It is embarrassing... I felt like an idiot... But now I understand it. Thanks for all the feedback.
Click to expand...

Are you at the start of a 0-6 year program, or are you in the middle of a 4 year pharmacy school?
 
Pojman said:
Are you at the start of a 0-6 year program, or are you in the middle of a 4 year pharmacy school?
Click to expand...

I'm not going to be a pharmacist.. I'm going to be a technician. I have taken almost two years so far, and graduating in spring. My Internship is in summer.
 
bambur said:
I'm not going to be a pharmacist.. I'm going to be a technician. I have taken almost two years so far, and graduating in spring. My Internship is in summer.
Click to expand...

This thread makes sense now. The level of math skills that you have is consistent with the expectations of your program. There is nothing wrong with you struggling with that type of calculation at your level. What you need to become comfortable with is measurements and the metric system.

Doom off everyone! The pharmacy profession is not broken!
 
yah there's something wrong with claiming to be a "pharmacy student" and is currently not in pharmacy school.
 
BMBiology said:
yah there's something wrong with claiming to be a "pharmacy student" and is currently not in pharmacy school.
Click to expand...

Seriously, all I did was come here to ask for some god Damn help on a few equations. I didn't come to mingle with you guys, and I'm glad I didn't because the most of you are jerks. And considering the fact that I am in college to be a pharm tech...... I sort of am a student in pharmacy field.................... Am I right or am I wrong....?
 
bambur said:
Seriously, all I did was come here to ask for some god Damn help on a few equations. I didn't come to mingle with you guys, and I'm glad I didn't because the most of you are jerks. And considering the fact that I am in college to be a pharm tech...... I sort of am a student in pharmacy field.................... Am I right or am I wrong....?
Click to expand...
The only reason we said that is because this is something a pharmacy student would have acquired (should have) through his first year of undergrad, if not highschool. Although if a tech is learning about this then I am more understanding.
 
bambur said:
Seriously, all I did was come here to ask for some god Damn help on a few equations. I didn't come to mingle with you guys, and I'm glad I didn't because the most of you are jerks. And considering the fact that I am in college to be a pharm tech...... I sort of am a student in pharmacy field.................... Am I right or am I wrong....?
Click to expand...

You're wrong. "Pharmacy student" implies that you are a student in a school of pharmacy, which you are not. You are enrolled in technical school. This would be similar to a nurses aide student calling themselves a nursing student, or a medical technician claiming to be in medical school.

The misrepresentation led to our less than welcoming attitude.
 
Praziquantel86 said:
You're wrong. "Pharmacy student" implies that you are a student in a school of pharmacy, which you are not. You are enrolled in technical school. This would be similar to a nurses aide student calling themselves a nursing student, or a medical technician claiming to be in medical school.

The misrepresentation led to our less than welcoming attitude.
Click to expand...

Sorry! I should have definitely clarified the *tech* part when I first started posting.
I didn't even lurk before I posted.
But seriously. I know the k h d base d c m and how to convert
It's just the stories.
 
Last edited:
OP is not the only one to have made this mistake. I had this happen the other day when one of the other technicians I work with made some reference to "when I was in pharmacy school" and it took me a confused minute to realize she was talking about the technical school she went to for tech training.

Anyway, sorry about the overkill negative reactions, OP. Here is a pharm tech study website with a nice section on basic pharmacy-type math subjects and practice problems if you haven't seen it before: http://www.pharmacy-tech-study.com/math.html
 
bambur said:
I'm not going to be a pharmacist.. I'm going to be a technician. I have taken almost two years so far, and graduating in spring. My Internship is in summer.
Click to expand...

I apologize...I thought you were a pharmacy student.
 
How would you fill this prescription?

levothyroxine 0.25mg, 1 po qd, #30
 
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