Workshop as a Teaching Learning Tool for Training Interns in Writing Rational Prescription

• Main Authors: Hema Narasimhegowda, Manjunatha Nagaraja
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2019-11-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: case-vignettes; p-drug; rational use of medicines
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/13300/42788_CE[Ra1]_F(SL)_PF1(AJ_OM)_PN(SL).pdf

Introduction: Rational drug usage is well recognised as an important part of the National Health Policy. Proper prescription writing is an essential skill for doctors in medical specialities. Several studies have shown deficiencies in students in prescribing. To overcome these difficulties, WHO produced the Guide to Good prescribing based on the concept of Rational use of Medicines. Workshops are known to play an important role in developing more instrumental skills of listening, presenting ideas and learning as a team. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of workshop as a Teaching Learning tool for training Interns in Rational prescribing and study their perceptions regarding the same. Materials and Methods: The study was carried on 6th December 2017 at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore, Karnataka, India. A one day workshop (six sessions) was conducted on Rational prescriptions. Thirty Interns were recruited (purposive sampling) who followed the WHO six steps of rational prescribing. Clinical teachers facilitated the discussions. A Pre-test (just before) and Post-test (immediately after) were administered. Paired t-test was used for analysis of scores. Students’ perceptions were graded on Likert’s scale (Mixed method study design). Results: Significant improvement was observed in rational prescription writing after conducting the workshop which is evident by the post-test scores. The t value was -6.22873. Most of the interns (70%) strongly agreed that the case vignettes helped to develop logical thinking. Many of them (72.3%) believed that this knowledge is more effectively imparted in workshop mode of teaching and majority (83.3%) felt that they needed to be exposed to this method of learning. Conclusion: This study confirms that workshop is a good teaching learning method to reinforce rational prescription writing.