Math in Pharmacy School

[doctorfreeze]

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I was wondering if calculus or pre-calculus is used a lot in pharmacy school. I took those classes a few years back and was thinking about retaking them since I didnt learn much. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[koercive]

We don't have anything related to calc yet (first year). We have basic calculations for compounding, etc. though.

Concepts may come up here and there for graphs, but I doubt we'll ever use calc again

 

[type b pharmD]

i second that.

being able to do fast divison, multiplication, fractions, and percentages in your head helps a lot though, especially if you go into compounding.

 

[lorain]

its all bout ratios/proportions

simple

 

[kinipela35]

I was wondering if calculus or pre-calculus is used a lot in pharmacy school. I took those classes a few years back and was thinking about retaking them since I didnt learn much. Any feedback would be appreciated.

The only thing I've come across, so far, that references calculus, is kinetics. Even then, it's rare and they simplify it down to basic algebra using various physiological assumptions. So, you don't actually work out any calculus problems. Stick to algebra, know it well, and you'll be fine.

 

[pearljam5a1]

Simple algebra and fractions are all I've seen so far (P1). It reminds me a lot of stoichiometry back in Gen Chem. 58/100 = x/60 type stuff

 

[Pharmella]

Ummmm...no. Unless you are thinking about doing research or biostats. Algebra and statistics are more often used.

 

[Garfield3d]

I was wondering if calculus or pre-calculus is used a lot in pharmacy school. I took those classes a few years back and was thinking about retaking them since I didnt learn much. Any feedback would be appreciated.

The worst that you'll ever see are basic algebra and statistics. Most of the difficulty with the algebra is simply rearranging numbers and trying to put everything into some sort of proportion so you can cross-multiply. Statistics may be a bit more complicated, but the two are usually divided into two separate classes (Pharmaceutical Calculations vs. Biostatistics).

I don't think I've seen any calculus, pre-calculus, or even high school algebra 2 in my classes. Sometimes you'll see them allude to derivatives and calculus, but then they'll quickly cite a simplified model which will invariably be reduced to plug-and-chug situations. It's really mostly about learning how to read a problem and apply the proper equations.

--Garfield3d