im a pre-reg trainee who is going to be doing the pre reg exam for the FIRST TIME this september. I was reading the thread about the June exam and im starting to get really scared, were the calcs really difficult to do??? also it seems like they did not reflect the sample papers given to us...??? can someone please shed some light on this and what is the BEST WAY to prepare for the calculations, what are the best examples you could practice with which closely reflect the actual exam calcs. I REALLY CANNOT AFFORD TO FAIL IT IN SEPTEMBER AS THE NEXT RESIT IS IN JUNE 2011 which is too long a gap. all help and advice would be much appreciated. thanks.
Apart from doing the calculation question thoroughly, trying to familarise yourself with all the basics.
I dun think it was really preparable coz the style of the question was just so different that I have never seen in any pharmaceutical book/practice paper.
Most questions concerned with percentages and proportions. Get these right and you are almost there.
1) % of elements in dry calcium carbonate to nearest whole number.
I will try to dig up a few calculation questions for you and we can go through them here.
Anyone who has questions (perhaps you still have the paper) post them here for us all to learn from.
johnep
Actually, in the june paper, they tried to confuse and distract us more than making the actual calculation difficult. The questions did not correspond to the time limit set. For instance I have never come across any question paper which starts with the most confused and time consuming question like the one we had. In this question, the formula was given and all the other figures required could be derived at, but they made the process so confusing and by giving a number 0.693 which needed to be devided and then multiplied to get the answer, made more time taking. Even for a mathematician it would have taken atleast 2 minutes to read and understand what the question is and how to approach, then another 5 minutes to calculate the whole thing and then convert it to the units asked (L/hr) etc. Then there is a question on Prednisolone, which is simple to calculate but, since no calculator and we need to calculate the dose for each week for ten weeks then add them, then devide them by 5mg and then deduct the 150 given makes it more time consuming and frustrating. Then you have a question which requires you to find vancomycin in the bnf, then read the dose carefully which says under the dose " CHILD 10mg/kg every 6 hours, over 5yrs, half adult dose" many have got this wrong thinking the dose is 10mg/kg and not the second part which is put confusingly within 2 comas (,) that is half the adult dose. Again simple but confusing and will take time to confirm you have made the right choice. The funniest simple question which most are thinking they got it wrong is the question on iron content, which asked for "between 100mg to 200mg". Now, I answered the question taking both 100mg and 200mg as inclusive in the "between", but no one knows whether to include them or exclude them. So unless the result is out or otherwise the Society publishes the answers to this question we would not know. It looks more suitable question for an English language test than a Pharmacist calculation test.
So all in all, the calculations were made tougher by virtue of creating confusion amongst the candidates than the calculation process being difficult. Looks like instead of adding 1 or 2 odd bits out of 20 questions, they have added all the 20 odds. How can you expect people to finish the exam within the stipulated time when it is time consuming by virtue of the type of question it is. The same applies to the other open book questions.
I for got to add the final line. In these days, where everyone is talking of reducing work pressure, inturn reducing errors to serve the patients better, how justifiable it is for the society to ask such time consuming questions to be completed within a set time. How fair it is to expect the pre-reg trainees (future pharmacists) to finish the process of answering within 1.5 minutes, when all they advice to Pharmacists is never to hurry the process of dispensing or handling patient queries and to take all necessary steps when in doubt.
The final question "who will tie the bell around the cat's neck" ????? WHO ??? We have seen many people in this and other forums always talking about these issues. Most of these people have been now elected to the society. Can we ask what are they doing about these concerns or when will they ease the tension on us ??? or is it simply a case of people trying to woo you for votes and then forget what they promised ?????
Hope justice will prevail one day and we Pharmacists will enjoy the similar status and support from the society as the GPs do.
Well put Shan, thy r contradicting themselves.. Also in real practice I'm sure everyone wud use a calculator to doubleck their calculations, it's only common sense and good practice to do so.
Also ther ws the flamazine question, the patient has surface area of 1.8m2, thy also hav 30%burns.. Wud we hav to take 30% of the surface area and work frm tht?
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