calculation section and rounding error

[yuske]

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since most of the calculation section is fill in the blanks now, im gonna assume they will tell you what decimal place to round to for your final answer, but prior to your final do you round those number to the decimal place your answer should be too? for example, a CrCl question, since you're probably gonna be using a basic calculatior, you can't input everything at once, so you're gonna have to calculate the top half first (should you be rounding to the specify decimal, or just keep it as accurate as possible) then you have to do the bottom half and finally divide those two together. so in that process, its possible to get some rounding error.

another question, how long do you spend on average on one of these math problem on the exam. im starting to wondering if i could finish the exam on time cause it takes me a while to do some of the question. like do you give yourself a max amount of time to figure out a question before just putting in a random answer? will you have time to double check your answer before submitting it and moving on to the next one? or should you just do it once and go on to the next question?

so for those that already took the test, what was your strategy to do the question?

thanks

 

[shahj3]

Yup, the question will say "Round to the nearest whole number or to 2 decimal places". More often than not, I got questions that said round to the nearest whole number.

In terms of rounding before hand, I usually left at least 4 decimal places when I was solving a problem. In my experience, keeping 4 or 5 decimal places is usually enough to still give you the same answer.

In the beginning, I felt that I had time to double check my answer for math questions before moving on to the next question. However, since I couldn't judge how many math questions I will have, I almost ran out of time at the end. My suggestion would be to trust your answer and move on, unless your answer is not fitting one of the choices.

As you many know, pacing yourself is very important! Even if you're feeling that you're doing good with time, try to take the same amount of time for all math questions. This way, you won't be pressed for time if you suddenly get a huge amount of math questions. Also, try to answer the therapeutics questions as quickly as possible (rather than overthinking the question). That way you have more time for math.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[yuske]

thanks for the info.

i got another question regarding calculation. i know they won't give you any formulas, but do they give you the MW of the compound or they give you the chemical formula and the individual MW and then you have to add it to get the compound MW? do they give you the valence, number of dissociate/speices? and im sure they'll tell you the units the answer should be in when calculating stuff in weight, but say they say to calculate CrCl or ANC, do they also say what unit it should be or could you just right the number without the unit? thanks again

 

[ruta]

Hi I also have question In exam one should use 1 pint =473 ml or 480 ml as Naplex wants accuracy up to two decimal points. Please answer.
Moreover do they give molecular weight or not
Thnks
Ruta

 

[shahj3]

yuske - Yup they will give you the MW of the compound. (thank God!...need to save all the time you can get! 🙂). They will not give you the valence or # of species. They do always tell you what units they want. However, the good news is you don't have to include any units in your answers. The answer is only numerical. Just watch your units when you're actually solving the problems.

ruta- I believe they want you to remember that 1 pint in 473 ml, NOT 480 ml. That's what I've heard anyways. I did not get any questions like that, so I honestly don't know what they would expect. And yup, they give you the MW!

Good luck to both of you! I'm sure you guys will rock the test!

 

[bacillus1]

ruta- I believe they want you to remember that 1 pint in 473 ml, NOT 480 ml. That's what I've heard anyways. I did not get any questions like that, so I honestly don't know what they would expect. And yup, they give you the MW!

Good luck to both of you! I'm sure you guys will rock the test!

I believe they do, and that 1 ounce is 29.6mL. I actually had a question on that. But on a multiple choice, the answer was obtained using 30mL, so not sure what they want. I guess one is a case of fill in the answer and the other was select the best answer.

 

[shahj3]

I believe they do, and that 1 ounce is 29.6mL. I actually had a question on that. But on a multiple choice, the answer was obtained using 30mL, so not sure what they want. I guess one is a case of fill in the answer and the other was select the best answer.

I would say, just to be on the safe side use the 1 pint = 473 ml, especially for the fill-in-the blank. For m.c., usually the answers are pretty far apart from each other. You should get the correct answer either way.

 

[yuske]

sorry but got another questions regarding body weight. i know you use IBW for AMG, but for the other problems, do they tell you to use IBW or actual body weight? i remember reading somewhere that say they made the actual pretty close to ideal, but in a fill in the blank, that may not be good enough so just wondering. also with regard to 1 oz, in fill in a blank, would it be better to use the actual 29.6 ml or 28.35gm or just use the 30 for it?

 

[shahj3]

I believe most of the questions I got, I was told to use the IBW. There was 1 question that didn't say whether to use IBW or ABW, but that patient was obese, so I used IBW. I think it doesn't matter whether you use 1 oz is 29.6 ml or 30ml, since those 2 numbers are pretty close to each other. However, for oz to grams I would use 1 oz = 28.35g.

P.S. I just emailed you the math formula sheet as well.

 

[yuske]

thanks for the formula sheet, shahj3

 

[bacillus1]

I believe most of the questions I got, I was told to use the IBW. There was 1 question that didn't say whether to use IBW or ABW, but that patient was obese, so I used IBW. I think it doesn't matter whether you use 1 oz is 29.6 ml or 30ml, since those 2 numbers are pretty close to each other. However, for oz to grams I would use 1 oz = 28.35g.

P.S. I just emailed you the math formula sheet as well.

I hope it doesnt matter, but when I did that question, the answer differed by I believe 10 or 15.

 

[shahj3]

I hope it doesnt matter, but when I did that question, the answer differed by I believe 10 or 15.

Ohh. nvm then lol. I never knew it would be that big of a difference. I would probably go with the decimal answer then.