14 May 2007

National Prescribing Service Limited’s (NPS) online prescribing curriculum for university medical students has recorded a 19% increase in total usage in 2006 over 2005. A total 1,495 undergraduate and graduate medical students from 11 universities used the online curriculum which is provided free of charge.

The program was designed by NPS in 2002 in collaboration with nine Australian medical  schools and the Australian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT).

Meg Stuart, Manager Curriculum and Training, explains that the curriculum is interactive, problem-based and available online. “Students access the curriculum through log-ins provided to the University. It is a free, easy to use prescribing education supplement that supports curriculum providers’ teaching and tracking of student’s prescribing knowledge.”

The framework of the evidence-based curriculum modules is based on the World Health  Organisation’s Guide to Good Prescribing, and uses the Australian Medicines Handbook and Therapeutic Guidelines as references.

The top five modules of the curriculum accessed by students were: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (66% of students); Post-operative pain & vomiting (61%); Peptic Ulcer Disease 1 (58%); Anticoagulants (57%) and Hypertension (55%).

Ken Ilett, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology, University of Western Australia said that the curriculum is a valuable tool that can be used as a stand alone package. It can easily be used and incorporated into student assessments. “Medical students using the curriculum have greater confidence in prescribing and say it has assisted them to develop their personal formulary.”

ENDS

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) is an independent, non-profit organisation for Quality Use  of Medicines funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.