Implementation and evaluation of an interprofessional prescription writing workshop with a simulated electronic prescribing activity for preclerkship medical students.

BACKGROUND: Prescription writing skills are essential for physician practice. This study describes the development and implementation of a curricular intervention focused on improving the knowledge and confidence of preclerkship medical students' prescription writing practices utilizing an interprofessional education model, with a focus on electronic prescribing. METHODS: Medicine and Pharmacy Faculty from a large, urban university collaborated to develop the content of the workshop and a simulation platform was used for the e-prescribing activity. Second-year medical students attended a mandatory in-person workshop facilitated by fourth-year pharmacy students. A pre and post knowledge test and confidence survey were used to assess students' knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction. Outcomes from the knowledge test were evaluated with paired-samples proportions tests, and confidence survey data was evaluated with paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests in a pre-post study design. RESULTS: Students demonstrated a significant increase in prescription writing knowledge and confidence after completing the workshop. On the pre-test, 7% of students (21/284) completed the electronic prescribing assessment correctly and 51% of students (149/295) completed it correctly on the post-test. All items on the confidence survey showed a significant increase in pre- versus post-survey comparisons (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This interprofessional prescription writing workshop facilitated by pharmacy students shows promise for improving the knowledge and confidence of prescription writing and electronic prescribing practices in preclerkship medical students.

Training and Practice Settings of Physicians Dual-Certified in Emergency and Sports Medicine.

ABSTRACT: Survey study of training and practice paradigms and job satisfaction of dual-boarded emergency medicine (EM) and sports medicine (SM) physicians. The REDCap survey was sent to 193 American Board of EM members who hold a Certificate of Added Qualification in SM. A total of 124 EM/SM physicians responded (67.5% male). More than 70% completed three-year residencies while only 28.5% had an EM/SM residency faculty. One-quarter delayed fellowship after residency 6.45 years on average. Regarding their first job after fellowship, 27.6% practiced only EM, 54.5% practiced both EM and SM, and 12.2% practiced only SM. Regarding their current job, 29.1% practice only EM. 47.3% practice both EM and SM, and 20.9% practice only SM. Only 13.9% and 9.9% indicated they are unhappy with their first job and current job, respectively. There is significant variability in practice settings for EM/SM physicians with the overwhelming majority being happy with their career choices.