Calculus?

[dpari]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello everyone, I am just curious why you may or may not feel that the Calculus math requirement is neccessary for Pharmacy.

Don't get me wrong, math is a good thing, however; I just do not feel that as it pertains to the Pharmd program that Calculus 😴
is used in every day life as a Pharmacist.

Most Pharmd's I work with say it is purely a revenue generating vehicle for the institutions.

P.S.... Must be the rights of passage.

What do you think? Let's hear about ya!!

Thanks

-Tavit

 

[DHG]

Probably you should have been exposed to calculus to better comprehend the rate equations you will see in biochemistry (enzymes)... among othter things... I'm not in Pharm school yet but I'd guess that pharmacokinetics includes a good bit of this rate equation stuff. I doubt calculus is a money-making thing. I took it and it has helped me in my Biochemistry and Physical chemistry classes.

 

[tcid]

I may or may not be right, but I think that for pharmacy students, classes like calculus help build logical and analytical skills, and while we may not be doing integrals or taking derivatives on the job, the process of learning and understanding calculus probably helps in the long run. From personal experience, after you've finished P-chem, you won't be afraid to take any exam.

 

[usi]

I may or may not be right, but I think that for pharmacy students, classes like calculus help build logical and analytical skills, and while we may not be doing integrals or taking derivatives on the job, the process of learning and understanding calculus probably helps in the long run. From personal experience, after you've finished P-chem, you won't be afraid to take any exam.

YEAH!
PChem will make a woman (or man) out of you!

 

[freshbeatschris]

All I can say is, I don't like calculus at all. 😡
This may be my first non "A" class.
I daydream of May when it will finally be over. 🙄

Chris

 

[sdn1977]

As a pharmacist, I've had to use calculus to learn and understand pharmacokinetics. If you just try to memorize formulas & "rules" in pharmacy...you aren't able to translate a clear understanding to other health professionals of how drugs are handled by the body. If you go into nuclear pharmacy (granted - not many of these pharmacists around) you absolutely need calculus. Look at it as a basis for what you learn later. I don't do derivative functions everyday, but I do use the knowledge when I need to calculate an aminoglycoside dose.

 

[dpari]

🙂

 

[bananaface]

Your school may make you use it to perform pharmacokinetics calculations. Our class didn't have to. The students the year before us did.

 

[UVaWahoo]

aw man (multivariable) calc was my favorite class!!!
i dont know if calc in general is used though. i have to use it all the time for my major so i guess i'm used to it....
how would it be a revenue thing?

 

[usi]

I swear I never felt so clueless after finishing my Multivariable final.
I was dazed, confused...I don't know how I got an A. I feel like something went wrong with the scoring.... 🙄

 

[Smilescali]

All I can say is, I don't like calculus at all. 😡
This may be my first non "A" class.
I daydream of May when it will finally be over. 🙄

Chris

Ditto to that! If I get into pharm school then who really cares right?

The funny thing is that I love the word/ story problems in this class while everyone else (business majors) hate them. It adds some excitement to this boring class. I purposely made this my last pre-req to take because I remember what it was like in high school. On the days when I have my O-chem 2 class I actually get excited! 😉

 

[Crazy_Norwegian]

I think that most schools use kinetics as the excuse to require calculus--but in reality I think it is primarily a weeder class. Our teachers do not expect (and neither have other schools I know about) us to integrate the zero, first, and second order rate equations. They just expect us to know how to use them. Yes, I admit that calculus could help to understand them better, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary.