The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7233 p115
25 January 2003

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Letters to the Editor

Registration exam

Mental arithmetic is an essential skill

From Mr I. Davis

Three cheers for Dr Robert Dewdney! I am referring to his frank reply to Iain Rooney's letter (PJ, 18 January, p83), which calls for calculators to be allowed in the registration examination.

I am a preregistration trainee who, in 1988, achieved a spectacular "ungraded" in my first GCSE mathematics examination (when calculators were freely allowed in examinations). I was also weak at calculations when I started my degree.

I would of course prefer to use a calculator in the examination but, like Mr Rooney, I chose my course of study and was fully aware of the expectation and responsibility placed upon me in so doing. For this reason I worked at calculations just like I worked at many other subjects. I am now capable of reaching the correct answer using nothing but my brain and a pen and paper. At the very least I would hope to be able to identify an answer of incorrect magnitude, the importance of which should not be underestimated.

My point is that the arithmetic expected of us in the registration examination, although daunting due to the consequences of failure, is not difficult. Learning to perform calculations accurately is no different from learning pharmacology or chemistry. Application, desire, hard work and practice are the means by which these concepts are learnt and understood.

Of course I hope I do not fail the registration examination on the calculations section (if for no other reason than to spare me from the ridicule coming my way for having written this letter), but if that is the case, then so be it. It would probably be in the public's best interest anyway. For this reason I fully endorse the comments made by Dr Dewdney. The mere suggestion by Mr Rooney that a science graduate incapable of performing basic mental arithmetic should be allowed to practise pharmacy is, frankly, laughable.

Ian Davis
Eastbourne, East Sussex

Not practical always to reach for a calculator

From Mr D. Finnie

In response to Iain Rooney's letter (PJ, 18 January, p83) regarding the use of calculators in the registration examination, I must concede the validity of his point that calculators are commonplace in most professions.

However, I doubt Mr Rooney's incapability to perform simple sums would instil confidence in the general public. Surely it is not practical to reach for a calculator every time you are presented with a prescription.

It beggars belief that someone intelligent enough to complete a pharmacy degree course would struggle with the most simple of tasks.

Doug Finnie
Preregistration trainee
Banchory, Aberdeenshire

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