CONTEXT: Avoidable drug-related problems (DRPs) cause substantial morbidity, mortality and costs. As most prescription errors are committed by recently graduated doctors, undergraduate training should specifically address DRPs. OBJECTIVES: This study set out to investigate whether a DRP teaching module can reduce prescription errors made by advanced medical students in varying clinical contexts. METHODS:A total of 74 Year 5 medical students (mean age 25 +/- 3 years; 24 men, 50 women) participated in a randomised controlled crossover study. Students filled in patients' prescription charts before and after a special DRP training module and a control intervention. The 1-week training module comprised a seminar on common prescription errors, a prescribing exercise with a standardised paper case patient, drafting of inoperative prescription charts for real patients and discussions with a lecturer. During the observation points, prescription charts for standardised patient cases in different clinical contexts had to be completed. These prescription charts were subsequently analysed by two independent raters using a checklist for common prescription errors. RESULTS: Prior to training, students committed a mean of 69 +/- 12% of the potential prescription errors. This decreased to 29 +/- 15% after DRP training (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Prescription errors can be significantly reduced in a relatively brief training time by implementing a specific DRP teaching module.
RCT Entities:
CONTEXT: Avoidable drug-related problems (DRPs) cause substantial morbidity, mortality and costs. As most prescription errors are committed by recently graduated doctors, undergraduate training should specifically address DRPs. OBJECTIVES: This study set out to investigate whether a DRP teaching module can reduce prescription errors made by advanced medical students in varying clinical contexts. METHODS: A total of 74 Year 5 medical students (mean age 25 +/- 3 years; 24 men, 50 women) participated in a randomised controlled crossover study. Students filled in patients' prescription charts before and after a special DRP training module and a control intervention. The 1-week training module comprised a seminar on common prescription errors, a prescribing exercise with a standardised paper case patient, drafting of inoperative prescription charts for real patients and discussions with a lecturer. During the observation points, prescription charts for standardised patient cases in different clinical contexts had to be completed. These prescription charts were subsequently analysed by two independent raters using a checklist for common prescription errors. RESULTS: Prior to training, students committed a mean of 69 +/- 12% of the potential prescription errors. This decreased to 29 +/- 15% after DRP training (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Prescription errors can be significantly reduced in a relatively brief training time by implementing a specific DRP teaching module.
Authors: N Celebi; K Kirchhoff; M Lammerding-Köppel; R Riessen; Peter Weyrich Journal: Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol Date: 2010-06-10 Impact factor: 3.000
Authors: Friederike Holderried; Daniel Heine; Robert Wagner; Moritz Mahling; Yelena Fenik; Anne Herrmann-Werner; Reimer Riessen; Peter Weyrich; Stephan Zipfel; Nora Celebi Journal: PLoS One Date: 2014-02-20 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: David J Brinkman; Teresa Monteiro; Emilia C Monteiro; Milan C Richir; Michiel A van Agtmael; Jelle Tichelaar Journal: Eur J Clin Pharmacol Date: 2020-10-23 Impact factor: 2.953