Retention of compounding skills among pharmacy students

To evaluate the competency of second-year pharmacy students to compound capsules from a prescription 12 months after completing a compounding course. Students who completed the compounding course were given the same prescription they had been given 12 months earlier to compound metoprolol capsules. No warning of the second exercise was given and they were expected to prepare capsules and package and label the finished product. Performance was evaluated in an identical manner for both exercises based on the level of professional competency of a score of 80% or above. Eighty-seven percent fewer students achieved a score of 90% or more on the second exercise and 81% fewer students demonstrated the required competency. Differences in scores on the first and second exercises indicate that pharmacy students' level of competency and retention of knowledge with respect to compounding capsules is not adequately retained after a 12-month hiatus.