Knowledge, attitude and practices related to drug prescription among postgraduate medical students: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Pharmacology, being both the basic and applied science of drugs, forms the backbone of rational therapeutics. With an emphasis on learning the facts of medications, traditional pharmacology teaching is mostly teacher-centred. The erroneous prescribing that can result from inadequate understanding can cost a great deal of money and lives. The aim of the present study was to assess doctors' prescription knowledge, attitudes, and practices.The information was gathered from postgraduate students (residents) using questionnaires about their undergraduate training in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, prescribing practices, frequently used drug information sources, and any perceived shortcomings in their undergraduate clinical pharmacology teaching. There was a calculation of descriptive statistics and a chi-square test.Among the 149 responses, 86 (57.71%) of them were male and 63 (42.28%) were female. Only 33 (22.1%) participants knew the components of a prescription, and 135 (90.6%) participants were aware that prescription writing was taught in their undergraduate course. Around 41 (27.5%) participants were aware of the concept of P drugs. Among them, 89 (59.73%) residents had good knowledge of prescriptions. Only 35 (23.5%) strongly agreed, and 113 (75.8%) agreed that undergraduate pharmacology training taught them to prescribe safely. About 83 (55.7%) participants disagreed, 33 (22.1%) strongly disagreed, and only 10 (6.7%) agreed that undergraduate pharmacology teaching should be improved. According to the patient's needs, 146 (98%) participants were prescribed additional vitamins and irons. Around 52 (34.9%) participants reported having difficulty prescribing during their internship rotation. Among them, 77 (51.67%) residents had good practice of prescription.A majority of postgraduate students believed that additional training should be provided on writing rational prescriptions to make them more confident in their prescribing practices.