PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - William M. Kolling
AU  - Timothy B. McPherson
TI  - Assessment of the Accuracy of Pharmacy Students’ Compounded Solutions Using Vapor Pressure Osmometry
AID  - 10.5688/ajpe77358
DP  - 2013 Apr 12
TA  - American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
PG  - 58
VI  - 77
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.ajpe.org/content/77/3/58.short
4100  - http://www.ajpe.org/content/77/3/58.full
SO  - Am J Pharm Educ2013 Apr 12; 77
AB  - Objective. To assess the effectiveness of using a vapor pressure osmometer to measure the accuracy of pharmacy students’ compounding skills.Design. Students calculated the theoretical osmotic pressure (mmol/kg) of a solution as a pre-laboratory exercise, compared their calculations with actual values, and then attempted to determine the cause of any errors found.Assessment. After the introduction of the vapor pressure osmometer, the first-time pass rate for solution compounding has varied from 85% to 100%. Approximately 85% of students surveyed reported that the instrument was valuable as a teaching tool because it objectively assessed their work and provided immediate formative assessment.Conclusions. This simple technique of measuring compounding accuracy using a vapor pressure osmometer allowed students to see the importance of quality control and assessment in practice for both pharmacists and technicians.