Using simulation for prescribing: an evaluation

Drug errors are a major cause of patient morbidity. The UK General Medical Council has highlighted that prescribing teaching should be prioritised. How should medical teachers best teach the practical aspects of prescribing?

We piloted a set of eight prescribing simulation tutorials for 35 final-year undergraduate medical students in Great Western Hospital, Swindon, UK. Students completed baseline questionnaires addressing confidence levels in prescribing. They then prescribed independently for simulated cases of common medical emergencies within tutor-led tutorials (n = 17) or self-directed prescribing tutorials (n = 18). Confidence scores and numbers of drug errors were documented at baseline and following four tutorials. Drug errors were categorised according to potential harm. Students then swapped to receive the alternative tutorial type.

Both tutorial types resulted in a statistically significant decrease in the number of unsafe drug errors: from 57 to three in the tutor-led group (p = 0.003) and from 60 to 14 in the self-directed learning group (p = 0.001). Both tutorial types led to statistically significant increases in confidence scores for global prescribing, prescribing in medical emergencies and managing medical emergencies (with a median increase of one point on a modified Likert scale). Confidence using the British National Formulary improved, but reached statistical significance for the self-directed group only.

Simulating cases and using real drug charts is an effective method for improving students' prescribing ability and confidence in common medical emergencies. Tutorials like these, whether tutor-led or self-directed, could be incorporated into medical curricula. This could help prevent drug errors in practice, thereby improving patient care and safety.