Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr;89(4):1431-1451.
doi: 10.1111/bcp.15606. Epub 2022 Dec 8.

The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study

Erik M Donker  1   2 , Rahul Pandit  3 , Merel C S Poleij  3 , David J Brinkman  1   2 , Michiel A van Agtmael  1   2 , Floor van Rosse  4 , Glenn Dumont  5 , Cornelis Kramers  6   7 , Roya Atiqi  8 , Milan C Richir  1   2   9 , Jeroen van Smeden  10   11   12 , Marleen H M Hessel  13 , Ben J Janssen  14 , Wilma Knol  15 , Jelle Tichelaar  1   2 ; Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article

The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study

Erik M Donker et al. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2023 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

Aims: Prescribing errors among junior doctors are common in clinical practice because many lack prescribing competence after graduation. This is in part due to inadequate education in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CP&T) in the undergraduate medical curriculum. To support CP&T education, it is important to determine which drugs medical undergraduates should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision by the time they graduate. Currently, there is no such list with broad-based consensus. Therefore, the aim was to reach consensus on a list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education in the Netherlands.

Methods: A two-round modified Delphi study was conducted among pharmacists, medical specialists, junior doctors and pharmacotherapy teachers from all eight Dutch academic hospitals. Participants were asked to indicate whether it was essential that medical graduates could prescribe specific drugs included on a preliminary list. Drugs for which ≥80% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed were included in the final list.

Results: In all, 42 (65%) participants completed the two Delphi rounds. A total of 132 drugs (39%) from the preliminary list and two (3%) newly proposed drugs were included.

Conclusions: This is the first Delphi consensus study to identify the drugs that Dutch junior doctors should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision. This list can be used to harmonize and support the teaching and assessment of CP&T. Moreover, this study shows that a Delphi method is suitable to reach consensus on such a list, and could be used for a European list.

Keywords: clinical pharmacology; medical education; pharmacology teaching; pharmacotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Rothwell C, Burford B, Morrison J, et al. Junior doctors prescribing: enhancing their learning in practice. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2012;73(2):194-202. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2011.04061.x
    1. Brinkman DJ, Tichelaar J, Graaf S, Otten RHJ, Richir MC, van Agtmael MA. Do final-year medical students have sufficient prescribing competencies? A systematic literature review. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2018;84(4):615-635. doi:10.1111/bcp.13491
    1. Lewis PJ, Seston E, Tully MP. Foundation year one and year two doctors' prescribing errors: a comparison of their causes. Postgrad Med J. 2018;94(1117):634-640. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-135816
    1. Ryan C, Ross S, Davey P, et al. Prevalence and causes of prescribing errors: the PRescribing Outcomes for Trainee Doctors Engaged in Clinical Training (PROTECT) study. PLoS One. 2014;9(1):e79802. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079802
    1. Ashcroft DM, Lewis PJ, Tully MP, et al. Prevalence, nature, severity and risk factors for prescribing errors in hospital inpatients: prospective study in 20 UK hospitals. Drug Saf. 2015;38(9):833-843. doi:10.1007/s40264-015-0320-x

Substances

LinkOut - more resources