January 2020 NYS Compounding exam
deeceepharm
New Member
I put my label in the hood behind the sharps container because I asked if I should bring it in or leave it out and the proctor said just follow directions. I asked this question in a review class and they said put it to the side in the hood ♀️ Is this max deduction?
I thought day 1 was straight forward. I know I lost a few points though on stupid stuff. I hope they don’t take points off for not being specific on recommendations. I just put drug name. Not route, rose, frequency especially since we don’t know patients specific illness. Day 2 had easier prescriptions than I prepared for but I feel like my cream I couldn’t get all the way without seeing some powder in it. The IV I think messed me up the most.
@deeceepharm did you take yours this week? I think it is points off if your label is in the hood.
Does anyone know if you always need a filter needle? I took mine and I asked one of the proctors where the filter needles were and he said he “guess there wasn’t any to just use what was there.” Like wth! I didn’t see any but I thought it was required before putting in the bag. In school I learned it wasn’t but Dr. Cutie’s demonstration showed we needed one. I’ve been freaking out ever since because I explicitly asked. The regular needles that were there were also super long that they had to be pulled out to get all the liquid.
Also does anyone know if it’s required to switch syringes or be specific? Like for example I used a 10 ml needle to get 7.5 ml but there was no line for .5. I kind of just went in the middle. I’m not sure if I was supposed to use 2 5-ml strings and draw up 5 in one and 2.5 in the other.
I’m hoping I did okay. Really don’t want to go through that again. Hopefully I’m overreacting but idk.
@deeceepharm did you take yours this week? I think it is points off if your label is in the hood.
Does anyone know if you always need a filter needle? I took mine and I asked one of the proctors where the filter needles were and he said he “guess there wasn’t any to just use what was there.” Like wth! I didn’t see any but I thought it was required before putting in the bag. In school I learned it wasn’t but Dr. Cutie’s demonstration showed we needed one. I’ve been freaking out ever since because I explicitly asked. The regular needles that were there were also super long that they had to be pulled out to get all the liquid.
Also does anyone know if it’s required to switch syringes or be specific? Like for example I used a 10 ml needle to get 7.5 ml but there was no line for .5. I kind of just went in the middle. I’m not sure if I was supposed to use 2 5-ml strings and draw up 5 in one and 2.5 in the other.
I’m hoping I did okay. Really don’t want to go through that again. Hopefully I’m overreacting but idk.
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@MBpharmD
As far as the syringe size, you always want to use the path of least vial/bag needle entries. I would have used the 10 mL syringe for drawing up 7.5 mL volume. Of course there is no line for half mL marks! The in-between lines are 0.2 mL increments. You wouldn't be in finer increment territory until you got into a diabetes syringe. You are correct to go between the lines, you used the correct syringe.
For the filter needle, I know they are not required generally unless you are drawing from an ampule which could create glass fragments in the solution. Everything should be sterile to begin with (like the vial and IV bag contents) and so there is no need to filter out bacteria or any other contaminants, of course unless specified to do so on the vial package insert.
As for the needle length, you probably had a couple of choices, no? You would pick whatever needle isn't too small, essentially. I would have chose an 18 gauge probably, but 21 or 15 would also work. When I was compounding in school we did ALOT of vial mixing and IV bag transfer. It was always a task to get each drop of solution out, so this is pretty normal.
Did you go to school in New York?
As far as the syringe size, you always want to use the path of least vial/bag needle entries. I would have used the 10 mL syringe for drawing up 7.5 mL volume. Of course there is no line for half mL marks! The in-between lines are 0.2 mL increments. You wouldn't be in finer increment territory until you got into a diabetes syringe. You are correct to go between the lines, you used the correct syringe.
For the filter needle, I know they are not required generally unless you are drawing from an ampule which could create glass fragments in the solution. Everything should be sterile to begin with (like the vial and IV bag contents) and so there is no need to filter out bacteria or any other contaminants, of course unless specified to do so on the vial package insert.
As for the needle length, you probably had a couple of choices, no? You would pick whatever needle isn't too small, essentially. I would have chose an 18 gauge probably, but 21 or 15 would also work. When I was compounding in school we did ALOT of vial mixing and IV bag transfer. It was always a task to get each drop of solution out, so this is pretty normal.
Did you go to school in New York?
No I’m an out of stater taking the exam. We did a lot of practice as well in school and we also learned that to only filter when from an ampule. I just think I got worried from Dr. Cutie’s demonstration and assuming everything had to be that way since everyone takes his teaching as God lol. In his demonstration he mentioned that filter needles are longer than regular needles and to always filter before putting the drug in the bag so I freaked out when there was only 1 needle choice. They had multiple drug choices, syringe choices, and bag choices, but only 1 box of needle choice.
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I called them today and they said results will be mailed early next week. This is absurd. I told them that would only leave candidates 3 weeks to register for the June exam (deadline is April 1), they told me "yeah we're aware..." 😡 😡😡
I get pictures of whats coming in the mail every morning and it is in the mail....today will be a long day
Congrats ! Sounds like it's good news. And to anyone coming to this thread seeing that everyone passed but you didnt, just remember that this test does not define you. Yes, you will feel depressed but it will all work out in the end. Feel free to PM me if there is any doubt. Coming from someone that has been in this exact spot but made it out alive
deeceepharm
New Member
Apparently putting the label in the hood didn’t cause me to lose max points. I ended up passing!
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prezzie
New Member
Who else didn't get their letters like me? I called scantron today, they said they sent to everyone last friday. I live in NYC and they said latest is this Friday. Should I be worried? This is my last step of licensure process and i don't see any update on nys board website either. Anyone here has seen the update?
Rx 1 was IV, 2 was ointment, and 3 was solution. I know a few people who re-did their compound on the solution because they realized they picked the wrong drug (2 were in the bag and you had to make sure you picked the right one). If you accidentally did the wrong drug that might be a fatal error.
prezzie
New Member
Thanks so much. I ended up getting my license in the mail faster
