VERNLEG1 Drug Calculations Course description

Admission to the programme

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student has knowledge of:

• the key concepts in drug calculations
• the role of drug calculations as part of drug administration and the laws and regulations that regulate it

Skills

The student is capable of:

• using international standards and systems of units in drug calculations
• calculating doses, concentrations and amounts
• calculating injection and infusion rates (dr/min and ml/hr)
• calculating doses, with dose distribution over a specified time interval
• calculating doses when a drug has been prescribed per ml or drops per time interval (0.125 mg/ml or 0.15 ml/kg/min)
• calculating doses in relation to body weight or body surface (in m2)
• calculating the dilution of drugs (drugs in liquid form)
• controlling his/her own and other people’s calculations

The work and teaching methods in the course include student-active work and teaching methods in addition to lectures.

The following required coursework must be approved before a student can receive a final assessment:

• Passed qualifying arithmetic problems in the form of multiple choice questions within a stipulated deadline before the exam. The students have two attempts to pass the coursework requirement before the ordinary exam.

Supervised individual written exam, 3 hours.

The exam is normally held four times in the course of an academic year.

Calculator handed out by the university

Pass/fail. To pass the exam, the student must submit a faultless exam paper.

One examiner