Safe medication practice: attitudes of medical students about to begin their intern year.
OBJECTIVE
Interns are expected to prescribe effectively and safely. This study aimed to assess medical students' perceptions of their readiness to prescribe, associated risks and outcome if involved in an error, as well as their perceptions of available support.


METHODS
We carried out a survey of 101 students prior to their intern year using a structured questionnaire. An indication of agreement with 21 closed statements was sought. Thematic clusters were identified by factor analysis.


RESULTS
Most students (84) felt they would be able to prescribe for most simple complaints and complete discharge prescriptions (81). In high-risk situations, fewer students felt comfortable with prescribing: only 54 felt sufficiently confident to prescribe warfarin and 66 felt confident enough to order i.v. fluids. Many felt support such as guidelines was available (87) and that, if in doubt, they could clarify instructions and seek advice. Students were aware of errors occurring within the medication system; however, most (99) believed that the medicines they prescribed would be safely administered. There was a mixed perception of medication errors: 40 felt that their prescribing errors would not be dealt with constructively and 79 indicated that a culture existed at their hospitals where clinicians would be blamed if they made a prescribing error.


CONCLUSIONS
At the end of medical school education and prior to assuming responsibility for prescribing, students felt unprepared and perceived that negative outcomes would result if they were involved in errors. These findings indicate that much more work is needed to prepare doctors to prescribe safely, improve the safety of prescribing systems and address the issue of blame.
Coombes
Ian D
ID
Safe Medication Practice Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ian_coombes@health.qld.gov.au
Mitchell
Charles A
CA
Stowasser
Danielle A
DA
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008508:Medication Errors; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011793:Queensland; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations