Pharmaceutical Calculations

It did the job for pharmacy calculations class but there are multiple wrong answers in this book, so beware!

This is a very comprehensive textbook with a huge number of examples both worked through and for practice. Many students struggle with calculations in pharmacy (and chemistry in general). Having a guide to calculations is an invaluable aid for undergraduate study. That is why I would say that it is essential reading. It goes from the very basics of rounding and estimation all the way up to the calculations of formulations. There are worked answers throughout. This is how all mathematical textbooks should be, and not just with a single number.Some reviewers have noted an issue about US units being used but my version uses the metric SI units throughout except for a few questions at the beginning using dollars and pints but these are not being used for quantitative measurement.

Thorough and informative book, which gives you everything you need to pass the exam, including the mock exam papers. Also useful to keep and refer back to after your studies are over.

The only reason why I gave this four stars instead of five is that it is based at the US market which operates in a slightly different way to how the UK pharmaceutical industry operates: i.e. compounding and prescriptions. However, that said, this has still found it's way onto some university reading/required text lists and that's probably more about the methodology of calculating dosages. The text itself is relatively easy to follow if you have a reasonable grounding in maths and has plenty of worked examples to test understanding. A well written text but aimed at a very niche market..

This book is written for the US. Mostly that’s not a problem as calculations are mostly basic maths, so perfectly fine to use for student practice. The US does use miles and lbs for weight in daily life, but the pharmaceutical calculations are in metric, grams and litres. Didn’t really need this type of text book as a UK student many years ago but perhaps as we did a lot of basic maths in general secondary school, we round up decimals and fractions, and daily measurements were in metric. The pharmaceutical concepts of % w/v or v/v were new but not hard and not requiring an entire book to learn and practice.Compounding in Uk community pharmacies is relatively rare these days, if the patients needs an ointment it will be made by a specials unit. Calculations of this type will be more helpful for hospital based pharmacists where manufacturing is under taken.There are example questions relating to prescriptions. These are not useful in UK as the legislation for who can prescribe what and prescription requirements are not the same as in US. Could be useful for pharmacies where there are commonly international visitors to have a background and understanding to their requires for medicines.

Doorstep category book for those seriously interested in Pharmaceutical Calculations. If that's your bag, there is a lot to please you in this dense, no stone left unturned take on the subject. Plenty of worked through examples which is really handy, and loads of guidance on how to carry out your calculations correctly and successfully. If you're in the UK be careful as this is very much focused on the US market, so units differ but the broad principles are of course universal. If you are involved in this field, an essential book.