Change undergraduate clinical pharmacology and therapeutics education to improve the prescribing competencies of future doctors¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review's authors recommend urgently required changes in undergraduate CPT education across the medical curriculum, because final-year students have not attained sufficient competencies for safe and effective prescribing. They state that "Changes in undergraduate CPT education are urgently required in order to improve the prescribing of future doctors." The recommendation rests on the review's synthesis of 47 evaluative studies showing general lack of preparedness, confidence, knowledge and skills.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A greater consensus among CPT teachers on the competencies that medical students should have in order to prescribe safely and effectively

Constraints¶

• The recommendation is based on studies with heterogeneity and methodological weaknesses, which the authors say should be interpreted with caution

Target Learners¶

• final-year medical students
• undergraduate medical students

Target Learning Goals¶

• safe and effective prescribing
• rational antimicrobial prescribing
• pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting

Claims¶

• Students lack knowledge of and confidence in appropriate antimicrobial prescribing, and most want more training in rational antibiotic selection [+W]
• Final-year students lack pharmacovigilance competencies, particularly knowledge of adverse drug reaction reporting [+W]
• Final-year students report low confidence in prescription writing and feel underprepared for prescribing [+W]
• There is no clear consensus among CPT teachers on which prescribing competencies medical students should have when they graduate [+W]
• Final-year medical students show a general lack of preparedness, self-confidence, knowledge and skills for prescribing, especially in general and antimicrobial prescribing and pharmacovigilance [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Extend prescribing competence assessment research to professions other than medicine

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Brinkman, D. J., Tichelaar, J., Graaf, S., Otten, R. H. J., Richir, M. C., and van Agtmael, M. A. (2018). Do final‐year medical students have sufficient prescribing competencies? A systematic literature review. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.13491