e-Learning materials on prescribing

Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare has worked with the British Pharmacological Society to develop an e-learning programme based on the principles of clinical pharmacology that underpin safe and effective prescribing.

“Prescribe” provides e-learning materials to help healthcare students to develop a firm grounding in the principles of clinical pharmacology and use of medicines more generally. The e-learning resource contains both interactive learning sessions and information designed to support students in achieving the relevant knowledge and skills outcomes.

The e-learning programme is intended to complement existing teaching initiatives and is made available free of charge to students registered with UK universities and NHS-affiliated organisations.

Prescribe is based on the learning outcomes set out in Outcomes for Graduates (originally published in Tomorrow’s Doctors 2009). These reflect earlier proposals made by the Safe Prescribing Working Group, convened by the Medical Schools Council in 2007, and are set out in greater detail within the British Pharmacological Society’s curriculum for medical students.

These competencies include the ability to:
• establish an accurate drug history
• plan appropriate therapy for common indications
• write a safe and legal prescription
• appraise critically the prescribing of others
• calculate appropriate doses
• provide patients with appropriate information
• access reliable information about medicines
• detect and report adverse drug reactions.

Prescribe will also provide material that is relevant to UK final year medical students preparing to sit the Prescribing Safety Assessment and is also aligned to many of the competencies highlighted in the recently published Prescribing Competency Framework.