Analysis of compounded pharmaceutical products to teach the importance of quality in an applied pharmaceutics laboratory course.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of a product-analysis laboratory exercise in teaching students the importance of quality in pharmaceutical compounding. DESIGN Second-year pharmacy students (N=77) participated in a pharmaceutical compounding laboratory exercise and subsequently analyzed their final product using ultraviolet (UV) spectrometry. ASSESSMENT Reflection, survey instruments, and quiz questions were used to measure how well students understood the importance of quality in their compounded products. Product analysis showed that preparations compounded by students had an error range of 0.6% to 140%, with an average error of 23.7%. Students' reflections cited common sources of error, including inaccurate weighing, contamination, and product loss during both the compounding procedure and preparation of the sample for analysis. Ninety percent of students agreed that the exercise improved their understanding of the importance of quality in compounded pharmaceutical products. Most students (85.7%) reported that this exercise inspired them to be more diligent in their preparation of compounded products in their future careers. CONCLUSION Integrating an analytical assessment during a pharmaceutical compounding laboratory can enhance students' understanding of quality of compounded pharmaceutical products. It can also provide students a chance to reflect on sources of error to improve their compounding technique in the future.