Try to make approximations so that you can do the math quickly. See how you score on our free MCAT practice test. Fortunately, the amount of calculation you’ll have to do is small. You aren’t allowed to use a calculator on the MCAT, so you need to practice doing arithmetic calculations by hand. On the other science sections, a basic understanding of statistics as used in research will be helpful. Math-based problems will appear mostly in the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems section. There is absolutely no calculus on the MCAT. Any math that is on the MCAT is fundamental: just arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry. The MCAT is primarily a conceptual exam, with little actual mathematical computation. Our experts compiled a list of MCAT math topics to prep for along with some tips for doing math calculations by hand. ![]() The MCAT is essentially a science test, but you’ll still need a solid grasp of math fundamentals to score big -and you cannot use a calculator. How’d you do? If you got stuck, had trouble figuring out where to start, weren’t sure what the question was asking or couldn’t get your conversions to cancel out…then you will LOVE the confidence and skills you’ll get from Confident Calculations.COVID-19 Update: To help students through this crisis, The Princeton Review will continue our "Enroll with Confidence" refund policies. ![]() If Tania is to receive a total dose of 700 mg, what is the minimum amount of time you should take to infuse this medication? The medication comes pre-mixed from the pharmacy at a concentration of 5mg/ml. To avoid cardiac complications, this powerful medication must be administered slowly at a rate not to exceed 50mg per minute. Tania is receiving a loading dose of phenytoin IV for status epilepticus. How do you know if Confident Calculations can help? Give this calculation a try: ![]() They are concept problems that often require critical thinking (not just multiplying and dividing!). I also teach you a method that gets you thinking critically about dosage calculations questions…they’re not just math problems. We start at the very beginning with the basics and then build your skills and confidence until you are able to easily master even the most challenging calculations. What if you have multiple conversions, medications dosed by weight or even medications dosed by weight AND time? My course Confident Calculationsteaches you how to perform all types of medication math with 100% accuracy. OK…you have the hang of that now? That’s a simple calculation with one conversion. We are now left with X # of tablets to give our 1 patient. Next, cross out the units that are the same…in this case it’s mg. Hopefully, you’ve set up your calculation like this: I have no idea if it does, but we’re just practicing so it’s all good. Everything except for tablets is crossed out, so we know we are ready to do some math.įor this calculation, let’s assume midazolam comes in 5 mg tablets. In this case, we want to know how many tablets to give the patient. ![]() Like so:Īs we move forward into more complicated calculations, it will become more evident that you know when to stop conversions when you are left only with the information needed to give the dose. Since mg is at the top of our first fraction, it will go on the bottom of our next one so that they cancel each other out. The next step is to add the conversion factor also as a fraction. In the case of good ol’ Tylenol, we check our blister pack and see that it’s 325 mg per tablet. Next, you need to know what dosage amounts your medication comes in. You will write this as a fraction, with 650 on top and 1 on the bottom like so: In this case it’s 650 mg of acetaminophen. In dimensional analysis, you always start with what’s ordered. We’ll start at level 1….super easy ones to give you a feel for the technique. In this post I will show you how to use dimensional analysis to solve any dosage calculation, even the tricky weight-based ones. You may remember it from your chemistry class and loved it even then -). When it comes to doing nursing math, which is essentially figuring out dosage amounts, the absolute best, easiest and most foolproof way to do it is by using dimensional analysis.
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