Impact of a focussed teaching programme on practical prescribing skills among final year medical students

Abstract

AIM: To assess the impact of prescribing teaching on final year medical students.METHODS Students randomly allocated to two hospitals completed a prescribing assessment. Prescribing teaching was delivered to the intervention group while no additional teaching was provided for the control group. All students then completed a second prescribing assessment. RESULTS: Teaching improved the assessment score: mean assessment 2 vs. 1, 70% vs. 62%, P= 0.007; allergy documentation: 98% vs. 74%, P= 0.0001; and confidence. However, 30% of prescriptions continued to include prescribing errors. CONCLUSION: Medical students make significant errors in prescribing. Teaching improves ability and confidence but is insufficient alone in eradicating errors. © 2010 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology © 2010 The British Pharmacological Society.