| 002P London, UK Pharmacology 2016 |
Prescribe - an e-Learning platform for prescribers in training
Background and aims: Prescribing is a complex task requiring diagnostic skills, knowledge of medicines, communication skills, and an understanding of the principles of clinical pharmacology. Recent studies suggest that there is a 10% error rate amongst prescriptions written by recent medical graduates in NHS hospitals1. Furthermore, the emergence of the Prescribing Safety Assessment2 has highlighted that a significant number of graduates fail this test of basic prescribing competence. Their feedback continues to suggest that they feel underprepared in this area and would like to have access to additional training resources.
Summary of work and outcomes: To address this perceived need for additional support, the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) has been collaborating with e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH, part of Healthcare Education England) to develop a repository of online resources known as Prescribe. Prescribe is intended to help medical students (and students of other healthcare professions) to develop a firm grounding in the principles of clinical pharmacology, which underpin safe and effective prescribing in the NHS. It draws on many of the learning outcomes that are expected of a medical graduate by the General Medical Council, which are identified in Outcomes for graduates (originally published in Tomorrow's Doctors)3. These include being able to write new prescriptions, review existing prescriptions, calculate drug doses, provide appropriate information about medicines, identify and avoid both adverse drug reactions and medication errors and amend prescribing to suit individual patient circumstances. Prescribe was launched in October 2016 and comprises of 25 sessions of learning written by 18 authors, divided into 8 discreet modules: Prescription Writing, Dose Calculations, Reviewing Prescriptions, Medication History-taking, Communication, Drug Administration, Drug Administration, Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions and Obtaining Information to Support Rational Prescribing. Each learning session lasts approximately 30 minutes and includes learning, knowledge checks, clinical cases and links to further resources.
Discussion and Conclusion: Prescribe is intended to provide a free learning solution for undergraduate students preparing to become prescribers. The project will develop incrementally based on feedback from users.
1. Dornan T, Ashcroft D, Heathfield H, et al. An in depth investigation into causes of prescribing errors by foundation trainees in relation to their medical education: EQUIP study. Final report for the GMC, December 2009. http://www.gmc-uk.org/FINAL_Report_prevalence_and_causes_of_prescribing_errors.pdf_28935150.pdf
2. https://prescribingsafetyassessment.ac.uk
3. General Medical Council, Outcomes for graduates (Tomorrow’s Doctors). July 2015. Available at http://www.gmc-uk.org/static/documents/content/Outcomes_for_graduates_Jul_15.pdf