Are medical students adequately trained to prescribe at the point of graduation? Views of first year foundation doctors.

Background: Drugs are the major therapeutic intervention provided by most doctors throughout their careers. The General Medical Council expects all medical students to be competent to prescribe at the point of graduation.
Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the views of Foundation Year 1 (FY1) doctors who had recently graduated from the University of Edinburgh about their training and competence in relation to the use of drugs based on their early clinical experience.
Method: A questionnaire was constructed based on Tomorrow's Doctors 2002 and distributed to FY1 doctors who graduated in August 2005.
Results: Responses were received from 100 (39.8%) of the doctors who graduated in 2005. Only 32% respondents considered themselves 'competent to prescribe' at the point of graduation. Less than 50% of respondents felt comfortable in providing information about possible treatments to allow patients to make informed decisions about their care. The majority of respondents complained about a lack of formal teaching and practice at basic clinical skills relating to drug therapy.
Conclusion: Many graduates feel under-prepared to take on prescribing responsibilities after graduation. These findings emphasise the need to ensure that all medical curricula are able to provide sufficient learning opportunities and robust assessment in this important area of clinical practice.