Education for new prescribers: a summary of the proceedings of a symposium held at The British Pharmacological Society, December 2005

Clinical Pharmacology: Opportunities for Educating New Practitioners—An Australian Perspective

“…Others have identified similar requirements for future training in clinical pharmacology 8 . Practitioners of clinical pharmacology in the future, whatever be their professional base, will also need to be more proactive in educating others—not just medical students, but also students and practitioners of the many health disciplines which now have, or will have, prescribing rights 24 …”

Are medical students adequately trained to be prescribers?

“…The rapid emergence of new prescribing groups, notably nurses and pharmacists, has further highlighted the question as to how much knowledge prescribers need. 17 Although courses for new prescribers are often more intense than those of medical undergraduates, they are provided in the context of a less substantial grounding in clinical diagnosis. Whether this newer, more focused approach to educating prescribers is successful will not be known for some time.…”

Safe medication practice tutorials: a practical approach to preparing prescribers

“…A recent symposium focused on the importance of education as the cornerstone in the improvement of the safety of prescribing. Recommendations included enhanced pharmacology and therapeutics training for medical students and junior doctors 4 . The General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK recommends that graduate doctors have knowledge and understanding of ‘the effective and safe use of medicines as the basis of prescribing’ and the ability to write safe prescriptions 5 .…”