Transl Clin Pharmacol.  2018 Sep;26(3):128-133. 10.12793/tcp.2018.26.3.128.

Survey on the undergraduate curriculum in clinical pharmacology and interns' prescribing ability in South Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Dongguk University College of Medicine and Ilsan Hospital, Goyang 10326, Korea. nygu@dumc.or.kr, namyi.gu@gmail.com
  • 2Department of Medical Education, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Goyang 10326, Korea.
  • 3Department of Biostatistics, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Goyang 10326, Korea.
  • 4Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine and Ilsan Hospital, Goyang 10326, Korea.
  • 5College of Pharmacy, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea.
  • 6Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Hospital, Seoul 03080, Korea.
  • 7Department of Pharmacology, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan 47392, Korea.

Abstract

Appropriate prescription writing is one of the critical medical processes affecting the quality of public health care. However, this is a complex task for newly qualified intern doctors because of its complex characteristics requiring sufficient knowledge of medications and principles of clinical pharmacology, skills of diagnosis and communication, and critical judgment. This study aims to gather data on the current status of undergraduate prescribing education in South Korea. Two surveys were administered in this study: survey A to 26 medical schools in South Korea to gather information on the status of undergraduate education in clinical pharmacology; and survey B to 244 intern doctors in large hospitals to gather their opinions regarding prescribing education and ability. In survey A, half of the responding institutions provided prescribing education via various formats of classes over two curriculums including lecture, applied practice, group discussions, computer-utilized training, and workshops. In survey B, we found that intern doctors have the least confidence when prescribing drugs for special patient populations, especially pregnant women. These intern doctors believed that a case-based practical training or group discussion class would be an effective approach to supplement their prescribing education concurrently or after the clerkship in medical schools or right before starting intern training with a core drug list. The results of the present study may help instructors in charge of prescribing education when communicating and cooperating with each other to improve undergraduate prescribing education and the quality of national medical care.

Keyword

Clinical pharmacology; Intern; Medical education; Prescription; Survey

MeSH Terms

Curriculum*
Diagnosis
Education
Education, Medical
Female
Group Practice
Humans
Judgment
Korea*
Pharmacology, Clinical*
Pregnant Women
Prescriptions
Public Health
Schools, Medical
Writing

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