Impact of a compulsory final year medical student curriculum on junior doctor prescribing

Attendance at face-to-face sessions and completion of online components of the National Prescribing Curriculum was made compulsory for final year medical students at the University of Adelaide in 2010.

To determine the impact of a compulsory prescribing curriculum for final year medical students on their prescribing competencies at the start of clinical practice. Graduates' attitudes to their medical school training in prescribing were also surveyed.

Two cohorts of medical graduates from the University of Adelaide who commenced medical practice in 2010 and 2011 were required to complete a prescribing task using the National Inpatient Medication Chart (NIMC) at orientation and after 6 months of clinical practice. The main outcome measure was a performance in a scenario-based prescribing test, as determined by test scores and overall safety of prescriptions at orientation and 6 months of clinical practice.

There was a small difference in the average total score for the prescribing task between the 2010 and 2011 cohorts at orientation (P = 0.0007). The 2011 cohort had a higher number of safer charts at commencement of practice. We found no difference between the 2010 and 2011 cohorts in attitudes towards their undergraduate pharmacology education, and new graduates feel poorly prepared.

Medical graduates who are required to complete a practically oriented prescribing curriculum in final year perform slightly better on a prescribing assessment at commencement of practice. More work on preparing graduates for this complex task before graduation is needed.