Developing confidence in basic prescribing skills during medical school: a longitudinal questionnaire study investigating the effects of a modified clinical pharmacology course.
Eur J Clin Pharmacol
; 74(10): 1343-1349, 2018 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29955909
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To investigate if increased focus on pharmacotherapy during medical school can increase students' confidence in basic prescribing skills, that is, performing medication reviews and writing medication discharge summaries.METHODS:
In 2016, the clinical pharmacology course in medical school in Gothenburg, Sweden, was modified to facilitate the students' acquisition of prescribing skills, with (i) clarified learning outcomes; (ii) supply of a list of common drugs for self-completion; (iii) instructions to practice medication reviews/discharge summaries during the ward-based education; and (iv) a concluding compulsory seminar where the students were to present prescribing-related experiences from their ward-based attendance. Questionnaires were administered to students participating in the course before (2016; n = 101) and after (2017; n = 137) implementation of the modifications. Students were asked to grade their agreement from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree) on statements related to their perceived confidence in basic prescribing skills.RESULTS:
In all, 195 students returned the questionnaire (response rate 82%; median age 24 years; 68% female). Confidence was rated higher after the modifications were implemented, both regarding medication reviews and medication discharge summaries, after vs. before 3.6 ± 1.2 vs. 3.2 ± 1.0 (P = 0.024), and 4.3 ± 0.9 vs. 3.9 ± 1.1 (P = 0.008), respectively. The adjusted odds for being confident in performing these tasks were 1.49/1.36 times greater after the course modifications (P = 0.047/0.019). Perceived confidence in performing medication reviews/summary reports was positively correlated with numbers performed (P < 0.0001).CONCLUSIONS:
Modifications of the clinical pharmacology course during medical school, focusing on students' training in pharmacotherapy, was associated with increased confidence of this core skill for a physician.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Farmacologia Clínica
/
Prescrições de Medicamentos
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Competência Clínica
/
Currículo
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Clin Pharmacol
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suécia