Table 1 The psychometric properties of the prescribing readiness of medical students (PROMS)
|  |  | Test (n = 119) | Retest (n = 119) | Wilcoxon Sign Rank test | Spearman’s rho correlation‡ | Corrected item-total correlation | Cronbach’s α if item is deleted | Cronbach alpha | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Domain | Item | Mean (SD) | Median | Mean (SD) | Median | Mean rank | p-value ‡ | ||||
Undergraduate learning opportunities | 1. Lectures on the basic pharmacology of drugs | 2.93 (0.41) | 3.00 | 2.92 (0.42) | 3.00 | 14.08 | 0.847 | 0.233 | 0.234 | 0.751 | 0.736 |
12.00 | |||||||||||
2. Lectures on the use of drugs in clinical practice | 2.53 (0.59) | 3.00 | 2.53 (0.62) | 3.00 | 21.66 | 0.982 | 0.416 | 0.235 | 0.759 | ||
19.45 | |||||||||||
3. Small group tutorials about drugs and prescribing | 2.05 (0.64) | 2.00 | 2.12 (0.67) | 2.00 | 20.08 | 0.338 | 0.409 | 0.591 | 0.664 | ||
22.67 | |||||||||||
4. Problem based learning about drugs and prescribing | 2.13 (0.67) | 2.00 | 2.13 (0.67) | 2.00 | 25.92 | 0.912 | 0.312 | 0.602 | 0.658 | ||
25.08 | |||||||||||
5. Workshops on prescribing issues | 1.87 (0.66) | 2.00 | 1.98 (0.69) | 2.00 | 24.08 | 0.094 | 0.366 | 0.664 | 0.639 | ||
25.58 | |||||||||||
6. Electronic learning opportunities | 1.98 (0.77) | 2.00 | 2.10 (0.76) | 2.00 | 28.75 | 0.169 | 0.268 | 0.513 | 0.690 | ||
30.03 | |||||||||||
Hands-on clinical skills practice | 7. Write up a hospital drug cardex | 1.56 (0.68) | 1.00 | 1.63 (0.72) | 2.00 | 19.50 | 0.252 | 0.431 | 0.336 | 0.474 | 0.542 |
22.17 | |||||||||||
8. A teaching session on calculating drug doses | 1.58 (0.66) | 2.00 | 1.67 (0.64) | 2.00 | 19.96 | 0.087 | 0.523 | 0.373 | 0.458 | ||
20.02 | |||||||||||
9. Set up a drug infusion pump | 1.28 (0.50) | 1.00 | 1.55 (0.79) | 1.00 | 19.50 | <0.001* | 0.549 | 0.206 | 0.537 | ||
18.92 | |||||||||||
10. Prepare and give a parenteral drug injection | 2.51 (1.15) | 2.00 | 2.49 (1.10) | 2.00 | 29.88 | 0.857 | 0.528 | 0.282 | 0.540 | ||
27.30 | |||||||||||
11. Set up and give a bag of intravenous fluid | 1.93 (0.90) | 2.00 | 1.95 (0.90) | 2.00 | 17.56 | 0.769 | 0.660 | 0.410 | 0.414 | ||
18.42 | |||||||||||
Information gathering behaviour | 12. Web based resources | 2.97 (1.24) | 3.00 | 2.81 (1.05) | 3.00 | 32.95 | 0.158 | 0.495 | 0.353 | 0.563 | 0.610 |
34.35 | |||||||||||
13. Online medical school resources | 3.08 (1.14) | 3.00 | 3.23 (1.12) | 3.00 | 31.74 | 0.141 | 0.506 | 0.539 | 0.458 | ||
33.89 | |||||||||||
14. Your own textbook | 3.42 (1.27) | 4.00 | 3.49 (1.23) | 4.00 | 27.30 | 0.608 | 0.589 | 0.370 | 0.554 | ||
30.64 | |||||||||||
15. Your own BNF or equivalent | 1.96 (1.11) | 1.00 | 1.93 (1.14) | 1.00 | 21.77 | 0.773 | 0.536 | 0.289 | 0.593 | ||
25.75 | |||||||||||
16. Library resources | 1.43 (0.81) | 1.00 | 1.42 (0 .77) | 1.00 | 17.30 | 0.930 | 0.438 | 0.296 | 0.590 | ||
15.79 | |||||||||||
Factors affecting prescribing skills acquisition | 17. No lecture or formal teaching on prescribing drugs | 3.17 (1.12) | 3.00 | 3.21 (0.91) | 3.00 | 30.14 | 0.923 | 0.341 | Â | Â | Â |
34.05 | |||||||||||
18. Amount of knowledge on drugs needed to be learnt is too much during each clinical posting | 3.08 (1.02) | 3.00 | 2.87 (0 .99) | 3.00 | 36.54 | 0.065 | 0.333 | Â | Â | Â | |
31.59 | |||||||||||
19. Will not be questioned on prescribing drugs in the final examination | 2.09 (0.86) | 2.00 | 2.03 (0 .80) | 2.00 | 23.08 | 0.473 | 0.571 | Â | Â | Â | |
22.90 | |||||||||||
20. Many clinical teachers do not explain about their rationale for their choice of drugs prescribed | 2.75 (0.95) | 3.00 | 2.80 (0.84) | 3.00 | 29.28 | 0.454 | 0.507 | Â | Â | Â | |
32.56 | |||||||||||
21. Not enough of reinforcement of pharmacology knowledge in the clinical years | 3.13 (0.95) | 3.00 | 3.15 (0.84) | 3.00 | 28.50 | 0.804 | 0.506 | Â | Â | Â | |
31.55 | |||||||||||
22. Not necessary for me to know how to prescribe drugs before graduation | 1.99 (0.93) | 2.00 | 1.97 (0.91) | 2.00 | 24.68 | 0.750 | 0.544 | Â | Â | Â | |
24.30 | |||||||||||
23. Lack of consensus among clinical teachers on drug prescribing | 2.61 (0.79) | 3.00 | 2.73 (0.77) | 3.00 | 25.64 | 0.140 | 0.422 | Â | Â | Â | |
27.08 | |||||||||||
24. Preclinical learning on pharmacology didn’t have enough clinical relevance | 3.34 (1.11) | 3.00 | 3.33 (1.02) | 3.00 | 34.23 | 0.880 | 0.593 |  |  |  | |
36.92 | |||||||||||
25. No actual practice, experience or emphasis on prescribing in clinical years | 3.48 (0.95) | 3.00 | 3.42 (0.94) | 3.00 | 32.71 | 0.431 | 0.576 | Â | Â | Â | |
31.17 | |||||||||||
26. Limited exposure to information that can help in making rational drug choice | 3.03 (1.00) | 3.00 | 2.89 (0.89) | 3.00 | 36.26 | 0.096 | 0.540 | Â | Â | Â | |
27.00 | |||||||||||