title: Impact of a focussed teaching programme on practical prescribing skills among final year medical students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medication errors, and particularly prescribing errors, are common in UK hospitals. Junior doctors make the majority of prescribing errors. Deficiencies in prescribing education and training have been closely linked to the high frequency of medication errors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Focussed prescribing teaching can lead to an improvement in prescribing ability. Prescribing confidence can be significantly improved through education. Education is insufficient alone in eradicating prescribing errors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of prescribing teaching on final year medical students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students randomly allocated to two hospitals completed a prescribing assessment. Prescribing teaching was delivered to the intervention group while no additional teaching was provided for the control group. All students then completed a second prescribing assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Teaching improved the assessment score: mean assessment 2 vs. 1, 70% vs. 62%, P= 0.007; allergy documentation: 98% vs. 74%, P= 0.0001; and confidence. However, 30% of prescriptions continued to include prescribing errors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medical students make significant errors in prescribing. Teaching improves ability and confidence but is insufficient alone in eradicating errors.
authors.affiliation: NPIS Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 51 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, UK. euan.sandilands@luht.scot.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Euan A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Sandilands
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: D Nicholas
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Bateman
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Neeraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dhaun
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Kluth
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013337:Students, Medical