gms | German Medical Science

Context: Avoidable Drug related problems (DRP) cause substantial morbidity, mortality and costs. Since most prescription errors are committed by recently graduated doctors, undergraduate training should specifically address DRP.

Question: To determine whether a DRP teaching module contributes to the reduction of prescription errors.

Methology: A total of 74 fifth year medical students (25 ± 3 yrs, 24 m, 50 f) from the University of Tübingen was included in a randomized, controlled cross-over-study. Patient charts had to be completed with prescriptions before and after a specific DRP training and a control-intervention, respectively. The prescription charts were subsequently analyzed for common prescription errors.

Results: Before the training, the students avoided 31 (±46)% of potential prescription errors. This percentage increased to 71 (±46)% after the training (p < .0001). Students with experiences from clerkships in internal medicine or former nurse educational training did not perform better in the first observation point (29 ± 45% vs. 31 ± 46%, p = .177/ 30 ± 46% vs. 35 ± 48%, p = .064).

Conclusion: Students cannot be expected to learn how to avoid common prescription errors during unstructured clinical clerkships. Prescription errors can be significantly reduced by a specific teaching module on DRP.