Prescribing tests must have curriculum support.

Dear Editor Gordon, Catchpole and Baker1 have discussed and investigated a very interesting, currently relevant, subject in medical education; particularly with the introduction of the prescribing test for undergraduates trialled in the UK this year and set to become a fully-fledged part of the curriculum and assessment criteria for 2014 graduates.2 It would of course be of great interest to compare the themes discussed in this paper and see they how would compare to recent graduates in late 2014. Anecdotal evidence suggests these prescribing tests have not been popular with students, and a recent poll (by the authors of this letter) of students whom had taken this test in 2013, added credence to this with 63 out of 76 (83%) stating they found the prescribing test of no benefit.3 The issue with the prescribing test is it seen by students as yet another barrier which they must cross and ‘tick the box’ rather than being an essential skill that will reduce iatrogenic incidents. Unfortunately, prescribing tests seem to be a last ditch attempt by medical educators to convey the message to the public that medical students have been trained and examined in prescribing, whilst arguably not being not the case. The authors would argue, that the first group of students to take this will have more than likely received no formal training, tutorials or lectures regarding the skills of prescribing – the skills will have been expected to have been picked up on already busy placements. If students are to be expected to take an exam in prescribing then some provision must be made within the curriculum to allow them to learn the skills needed to pass this exam. To reduce iatrogenic medication errors and have competent medical undergraduates then prescribing skills must be instigated from an early stage in the undergraduate curriculum. Comparison can be made to communication skills which have only recently been given a central role in the UK undergraduate curriculum, perhaps prescribing is next.