Sanity checking a schedule someone else wrote down for you
Sanity checking a schedule someone else wrote down for you
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A schedule handed over on paper can be checked for internal consistency without any judgement about whether it is the right schedule. The checks are arithmetic and there are about five of them.
First, does the ramp reach its stated endpoint in the stated time. If the sheet says start 0.25, step 0.25, hold four weeks, reach 2.0 mg by week twenty, count it: seven steps at four weeks each is 28 weeks to reach 2.0, not 20. Either the hold is shorter than stated or the endpoint arrives later. This contradiction is common and it is visible in one multiplication.
Second, do the unit figures match the stated concentration. If the sheet says 0.25 mg is 25 units, check it. Twenty five units is 0.25 mL on a U-100 barrel, so the implied concentration is 0.25 mg / 0.25 mL = 1 mg/mL. If the vial is 5 mg in 2 mL, that is 2.5 mg/mL and the correct figure is 10 units, not 25. A factor of two and a half is exactly the kind of error that survives being read aloud.
Third, does the vial cover what the sheet implies. If it says one 5 mg vial covers the first twelve weeks and the first twelve weeks sum to 4 x (0.25 + 0.5 + 0.75) = 6.0 mg, it does not. It covers ten weeks and part of the eleventh.
Fourth, are the intervals consistent with the frequency. A sheet that says weekly and lists dates on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 23rd has a 7, 7, 8 pattern, which is probably a typo rather than a design. Checking the date list against the stated interval catches transcription errors before they become the schedule. Typing the dates into a peptide tracker and reading the derived interval column is quicker than doing it by eye.
Fifth, does the total make sense against what you have. Sum the whole sheet. If it comes to 36 mg and you hold two 10 mg vials, you are 16 mg short, and knowing that on day one is worth more than any other check on this list.
None of these ask whether the schedule is appropriate, which is not a question arithmetic can answer. They only ask whether the sheet agrees with itself and with the material in front of you. Anything that fails one of them is worth raising with whoever wrote it rather than resolving on your own, and having the failing calculation written out, which a schedule tracker that does the arithmetic gives you for free, makes that a short conversation.
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