Abstract

Objective: To audit the acquisition of prescribing skills of pre-clerkship medical students in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum that incorporates a prescribing program. Material and methods: Student performance in pharmacotherapy stations included in six out of eight end-of-unit-objective structured practical examinations (OSPE) was evaluated using a rating checklist. Results: Prescription writing skills of 539 students (66.2% female and 33.8% male) were appraised. With the exception of refill element, the other physician-related components including prescriber?s identity, date of prescription order, patient?s identity, the symbol Rx ?Take Thou?, and prescriber?s signature were written by 96.1% of the students (95% confidence interval (CI) 94.1 ? 97.5). However, the drug-related components such as the appropriateness of drug(s) selected, strength, dosage form, quantity to be dispensed and directions for use were written satisfactorily by 50.2% of the students (95% CI 46.0 ? 54.4). With respect to prescribing skills, the mean total score of Year 4 students did not significantly differ from that of Year 2 (69.4 (CI 65.7 ? 73.1) vs. 66.3 (CI 62.7 to 69.9); p = 0.237). However, the mean scores of individual drug-related components such as appropriateness of drug(s) selected, dosage form, and direction for use were significantly higher in Year 4 than that of Year 2 students (p < 0.05). Of 381 rationally prescribed drugs, 81.1% were written with generic names. Conclusion: This study revealed that the students acquire prescribing skills to a limited extent during the pre-clerkship phase in a PBL program. Prescribing errors and deficits were found to be mainly associated with drug-related components. Further training and assessment of prescribing skills during the clerkship and internship period are needed to achieve mastery of this skill as a terminal competency of graduating physicians.

Author Details

Authors

• K.A.J. Al Khaja
• S.S. Handu
• H. James
• V.S. Mathur
• R.P. Sequeira

Departments

• Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

Address

Prof. R.P. Sequeira Chairman, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Arabian Gulf University P.O. Box 22979 Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Email: [email protected]

Citation