Doctors need calculations training
The ability of junior doctors to perform drug dose calculations has been called into question by the results of a survey published this week (International Journal of Clinical Practice 2007;61:189). The authors recommend that drug administration training should be reinforced during doctors' first years of practice.
Researchers analysed the results of nearly 3,000 doctors who participated
in an online test (on the www.doctors.net.uk network) that involved drug
solution calculations expressed as percentages, ratios and mass concentrations,
and calculations of amounts to administer in various clinical scenarios.
They found that, when all correspondents were considered, there was no
clear association between the number of years of experience and test
scores. However, a significant relationship between experience and calculation
scores was seen (P<0.001) when retired doctors and those working in
the community were excluded from the analysis.
The study also showed a high variation in scores between doctors trained
at different medical schools (P<0.0001). The authors conclude that “all
medical school curricula should include formal teaching and testing of
drug administration skills, and that this should be extended into the
training programmes of newly qualified doctors”.
“This study also highlights the potential dangers of expressing
the concentrations of drug solutions as ratios and percentages to those
who rarely give
them,” they add.
GMC research The General Medical Council’s
research and development board has agreed to fund a project to look at
the prevalence and causes
of prescribing
errors. The research, due to begin later this year with up to £100,000
of GMC money, will look at errors across the whole medical profession, not just
those of junior doctors. |
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