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Abstract
Objective. To evaluate the accuracy of pharmacy students compounding skills. Methods. Potassium permanganate aqueous solution (KMnO^sub 4^) and citrated caffeine syrup were compounded by 2 first-year pharmacy classes in 2 consecutive years. Results. Approximately 54% of the students prepared the KMnO^sub 4^ solution within ±10% of the nominal concentration at the first attempt. The "not pass" formulation errors ranged from -75% to >200%. For the citrated caffeine syrup, 78% of the students prepared the medicine within ±10% of the nominal concentration in the first attempt. The "not pass" formulation errors ranged from -89% to 269%. For the citrated caffeine syrup preparation, there was no significant difference between using an electronic digital balance or a torsion balance (p>0.05) with respect to accuracy. Conclusion. The results from this study were comparable with those reported for pharmacists across the country, both in the number of formulations failing potency analysis and in the range of error observed. Objective assessment of pharmacy student compounding skills should be employed to determine competency. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]