Student and pre-registration pharmacist performance in a UK Prescribing Assessment

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Skills Assessment
• Pharmacist Prescribing

Background:

• Global policy trends support patient-facing pharmacist prescribers.
• The UK Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) evaluates prescribing competencies for medical graduates.
• Assessing pharmacist prescribing skills is crucial for safe patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of student pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists on the UK PSA.
• To explore participants' views on the suitability and appropriateness of the PSA.
• To identify areas for improvement in pharmacy curricula related to prescribing.

Main Methods:

• Final year undergraduates (n=238) and pre-registration pharmacists (n=167) completed the PSA in Scotland, UK.
• PSA performance was analyzed using descriptive statistics.
• Participant opinions on the PSA's appropriateness and usability were gathered via questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Pre-registration pharmacists achieved significantly higher PSA scores (64.4) than undergraduates (51.2).
• Pre-registration pharmacists outperformed undergraduates across most assessment areas.
• Hospital-based pre-registration pharmacists scored higher than community-based ones.

Conclusions:

• While pre-registration pharmacists performed better, all groups require enhanced prescribing skills, particularly in diagnostics.
• The PSA is an acceptable assessment tool for evaluating pharmacist prescribing competence.
• Findings will inform pharmacy curriculum development and cross-disciplinary assessment strategies.