KAPLAN EMS Dosage Calculation: Math Review and Practice for Paramedics

I’m in paramedic school and struggling with drug math it goes from basic to complex in easy steps to understand and I’d buy it !

I’m an Advanced EMT getting ready to start a paramedic program. I did not feel that I had a solid understanding on drug calculations despite my hardest efforts to be good at med math. I bought this book in hopes that it would give me a better way to calculate dosages, or at least to feel more confident in myself while calculating, and this book provided exactly all of that! I love the layout of the contents, which is why I’ve uploaded several images for potential buyers to get a feel for. Maybe it’s exactly what you need, too!There is a “diagnostic test” in the beginning that points out any areas of the book that you should probably spend more time in. I ‘passed’ this pre-test, but opted to start from the very beginning anyway. It refreshes on basic arithmetic, fractions/decimals/percentages, and ratios. Then conversions, which is helpful if you don’t feel very confident in that area.Finally, you start digging into the real stuff. There are 4 methods of calculating that are taught and supported in this book. Throughout the last several chapters, it breaks down answers using all 4, so that if you are adamant on using only one method you can still check your work in that format. Or, if you’re trying to open your mind up to different ways to calculate, you can check your work in the unfamiliar territory as well. I appreciate that feature! Each chapter ends with a quiz, and there are several practice quizzes throughout to help you keep pace. If I could change one thing, I’d suggest perhaps adding a comprehensive follow-up quiz at the very end to wrap it all up and give just that extra little boost of confidence. However, I feel confident enough that what I just studied and absorbed will actually stick, so I’m totally content without a final quiz. Even if I end up totally frying my brain during medic class and need to refresh my math skills all over again, I’m sure this book will save me.

While I found the sections that focused on the math around medicine dosages helpful and gives a decent amount of practice questions per section and the explanations on how to get to the answer are great... I heavily disliked how much of the book is dedicated to basic math skills. I can understand the need/want to review some of the basic math skills however I do not feel that over half of the book needs to be dedicated to it (124 of 230). I would have personally liked to have seen some quizes/tests that encompassed all of the formulas at the end of the book for more practice as well in addition to the ones at the end of the chapters. I definitely found my other book I purchased, "Paramedic Med-Math Made Easy", with the goal of learning this info much more helpful and a better bang for your buck. It didn't have as many practice questions but it does focus on the medication math harder.