Pharmacist-led prescription writing educational intervention to final-year medical students: A pre-post non-randomised longitudinal study

<ns3:p>Background Writing a medication prescription is a multifaceted skill expected of all junior doctors. However, many medical students feel a lack of preparedness and confidence after graduation. Separating the teaching of practical and clinical components may enhance understanding of the practical skills to complete a prescription. This study aimed to: (1) assess whether additional pharmacist-led multimodal education interventions change the prescribing skills of Australian final-year medical students, (2) evaluate knowledge retention a year later in the same participants as junior doctors, and (3) determine whether there is an association between self-perceived confidence to prescribe and their practical ability to write safe and legal prescriptions. This manuscript details the methods used in this novel longitudinal study. Methods This non-randomised pre-post longitudinal study was conducted in two phases. The intervention was additional pharmacist-led multimodal education on prescription writing skills for final-year medical students. The intervention group completed the pre-post and follow-up tests. This study was approved by the James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number H9114). Discussion This paper presents the methods and protocol of an approved and funded non-randomised longitudinal study investigating the potential of additional education led by pharmacist educators to improve prescribing knowledge and skills among final-year medical students in Australia. Prescribing skills education for medical students may reduce the probability of potentially incorrect or unsafe prescribing habits as junior doctors. Education standards do not acknowledge adherence to local legal regulations when prescribing and do not recommend mandatory teaching or assessment criteria. This study reviews the effectiveness of and need for additional education on the practical skill of writing a medication prescription. If positive, the findings of this study will have practical and policy impacts that may result in long-term improvements in safe medicine practice and ultimately benefit patient care.</ns3:p>