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Table 3 Prescribing readiness of final- year medical students in a public and a private university

From: Development and validation of an instrument to assess the prescribing readiness of medical students in Malaysia

  

Public university (n = 123) [%]

Private university (n = 53) [%]

 

Domain

Item

Too little

About right

Too much

Too little

About right

Too much

p-value

Undergraduate learning opportunities

1. Lectures on the basic pharmacology of drugs

10.6

83.7

5.7

42.6

51.9

5.6

<0.001*

2. Lectures on the use of drugs in clinical practice

50.4

49.6

0

72.2

25.9

1.9

0.006*

3. Small group tutorials about drugs and prescribing

72.4

26.8

0.8

90.7

9.3

0

0.024*

4. Problem based learning about drugs

73.2

24.4

2.4

75.9

24.1

0

0.507

5. Workshops on prescribing issues

74.6

24.6

0.8

85.2

14.8

0

0.267

6. Electronic learning opportunities

68.6

27.3

4.1

65.4

34.6

0

0.238

  

0–5 times

6–10 times

>10 times

0–5 times

6–10 times

>10 times

 

Hands-on clinical skills practice

7. Write up a hospital drug cardex

90.2

8.1

1.6

84.9

9.4

5.7

0.314

8. A teaching session on calculating drug doses

92.7

6.5

0.8

85.2

11.1

3.7

0.213

9. Set up a drug infusion pump

92.7

6.5

0.8

92.6

7.4

0

0.785

10. Prepare and give a parenteral drug injection

20.3

9.8

69.9

68.5

20.4

11.1

<0.001*

11. Set up and give a bag of intravenous fluid

60.2

22.8

17.1

54.7

18.9

26.4

0.355

  

Never or yearly

Monthly

Weekly or daily

Never or yearly

Monthly

Weekly or daily

 

Information gathering behaviour

12. Web based resources

56.6

27.9

15.6

33.3

22.2

44.4

<0.001*

13. Online medical school resources

48.8

35.8

15.4

33.3

31.5

35.2

0.011*

14. Your own textbook

5.7

48.0

46.3

9.3

24.1

66.7

0.012*

15. Your own BNF or equivalent

41.3

28.4

30.3

17.0

30.2

52.8

0.004*

16. Library resources

82.1

13.7

4.3

31.4

33.3

35.3

<0.001*

 

Factors

Strongly disagree/disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree/ strongly agree

Strongly disagree/ disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree/ strongly agree

 

Factors affecting prescribing skills

17. No lecture or formal teaching on prescribing drugs

39.0

41.5

19.5

20.4

48.1

31.5

0.036*

18. Amount of knowledge on drugs needed to be learnt is too much during each clinical posting

39.3

32.0

28.7

33.3

31.5

35.2

0.645

19. Will not be questioned on prescribing drugs in the final examination

60.7

25.4

13.9

70.4

22.2

7.4

0.359

20. Many clinical teachers do not explain about their rationale for their choice of drugs prescribed

30.3

40.2

29.5

40.7

40.7

18.5

0.230

21. Not enough of reinforcement of pharmacology knowledge in the clinical years

12.3

50.0

37.7

20.8

41.5

37.7

0.310

22. Not necessary for me to know how to prescribe drugs before graduation

62.6

26.0

11.4

72.2

22.2

5.6

0.355

23. Lack of consensus among clinical teachers on drug prescribing

25.2

62.6

12.2

26.4

54.7

18.9

0.457

24. Preclinical learning on pharmacology didn’t have enough clinical relevance

26.0

35.0

39.0

27.8

37.0

35.2

0.889

25. No actual practice, experience or emphasis on prescribing in clinical years

10.6

43.1

46.3

22.2

42.6

35.2

0.095

26. Limited exposure to information that can help in making rational drug choice

40.7

43.9

15.4

31.5

46.3

22.2

0.394

  1. *Statistically significant at p < 0.05