The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study

Erik M Donker; Rahul Pandit; Merel C S Poleij; David J Brinkman; Michiel A van Agtmael; Floor van Rosse; Glenn Dumont; Cornelis Kramers; Roya Atiqi; Milan C Richir; Jeroen van Smeden; Marleen H M Hessel; Ben J Janssen; Wilma Knol; Jelle Tichelaar; Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers

doi:10.1111/bcp.15606

The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study

Erik M Donker^*, Rahul Pandit, Merel C S Poleij, David J Brinkman, Michiel A van Agtmael, Floor van Rosse, Glenn Dumont, Cornelis Kramers, Roya Atiqi, Milan C Richir, Jeroen van Smeden, Marleen H M Hessel, Ben J Janssen, Wilma Knol, Jelle Tichelaar, Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

AIMS: Prescribing errors among junior doctors are common in clinical practice because many lack prescribing competence after graduation. This is in part due to inadequate education in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CP&T) in the undergraduate medical curriculum. To support CP&T education, it is important to determine which drugs medical undergraduates should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision by the time they graduate. Currently, there is no such list with broad-based consensus. Therefore, the aim was to reach consensus on a list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education in the Netherlands.

METHODS: A two-round modified Delphi study was conducted among pharmacists, medical specialists, junior doctors and pharmacotherapy teachers from all eight Dutch academic hospitals. Participants were asked to indicate whether it was essential that medical graduates could prescribe specific drugs included on a preliminary list. Drugs for which ≥80% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed were included in the final list.

RESULTS: In all, 42 (65%) participants completed the two Delphi rounds. A total of 132 drugs (39%) from the preliminary list and two (3%) newly proposed drugs were included.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Delphi consensus study to identify the drugs that Dutch junior doctors should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision. This list can be used to harmonize and support the teaching and assessment of CP&T. Moreover, this study shows that a Delphi method is suitable to reach consensus on such a list, and could be used for a European list.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1431-1451
Number of pages	21
Journal	British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Volume	89
Issue number	4
Early online date	20 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15606
Publication status	Published - Apr 2023

Keywords

Clinical pharmacology
Medical education
Pharmacology teaching
Pharmacotherapy

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10.1111/bcp.15606Licence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

Donker, E. M., Pandit, R., Poleij, M. C. S., Brinkman, D. J., van Agtmael, M. A., van Rosse, F., Dumont, G., Kramers, C., Atiqi, R., Richir, M. C., van Smeden, J., Hessel, M. H. M., Janssen, B. J., Knol, W., Tichelaar, J., & Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers (2023). The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 89(4), 1431-1451. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15606

@article{5367960302cf4b84ade20cb0112e4177,

title = "The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study",

abstract = "AIMS: Prescribing errors among junior doctors are common in clinical practice because many lack prescribing competence after graduation. This is in part due to inadequate education in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CP&T) in the undergraduate medical curriculum. To support CP&T education, it is important to determine which drugs medical undergraduates should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision by the time they graduate. Currently, there is no such list with broad-based consensus. Therefore, the aim was to reach consensus on a list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education in the Netherlands.METHODS: A two-round modified Delphi study was conducted among pharmacists, medical specialists, junior doctors and pharmacotherapy teachers from all eight Dutch academic hospitals. Participants were asked to indicate whether it was essential that medical graduates could prescribe specific drugs included on a preliminary list. Drugs for which ≥80% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed were included in the final list.RESULTS: In all, 42 (65%) participants completed the two Delphi rounds. A total of 132 drugs (39%) from the preliminary list and two (3%) newly proposed drugs were included.CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Delphi consensus study to identify the drugs that Dutch junior doctors should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision. This list can be used to harmonize and support the teaching and assessment of CP&T. Moreover, this study shows that a Delphi method is suitable to reach consensus on such a list, and could be used for a European list.",

keywords = "Clinical pharmacology, Medical education, Pharmacology teaching, Pharmacotherapy",

author = "Donker, {Erik M} and Rahul Pandit and Poleij, {Merel C S} and Brinkman, {David J} and {van Agtmael}, {Michiel A} and {van Rosse}, Floor and Glenn Dumont and Cornelis Kramers and Roya Atiqi and Richir, {Milan C} and {van Smeden}, Jeroen and Hessel, {Marleen H M} and Janssen, {Ben J} and Wilma Knol and Jelle Tichelaar and {Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Pharmacological Society.",

year = "2023",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1111/bcp.15606",

language = "English",

volume = "89",

pages = "1431--1451",

journal = "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology",

issn = "0306-5251",

publisher = "Wiley",

number = "4",

}

Donker, EM, Pandit, R, Poleij, MCS, Brinkman, DJ, van Agtmael, MA, van Rosse, F, Dumont, G, Kramers, C, Atiqi, R, Richir, MC, van Smeden, J, Hessel, MHM, Janssen, BJ, Knol, W, Tichelaar, J & Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers 2023, 'The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education: A modified Delphi study', British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 89, no. 4, pp. 1431-1451. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15606

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Dutch list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education

T2 - A modified Delphi study

AU - Donker, Erik M

AU - Pandit, Rahul

AU - Poleij, Merel C S

AU - Brinkman, David J

AU - van Agtmael, Michiel A

AU - van Rosse, Floor

AU - Dumont, Glenn

AU - Kramers, Cornelis

AU - Atiqi, Roya

AU - Richir, Milan C

AU - van Smeden, Jeroen

AU - Hessel, Marleen H M

AU - Janssen, Ben J

AU - Knol, Wilma

AU - Tichelaar, Jelle

AU - Pharmacotherapy Education working group of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmacy and its affiliated Dutch Network of Clinical Pharmacology Teachers

PY - 2023/4

Y1 - 2023/4

N2 - AIMS: Prescribing errors among junior doctors are common in clinical practice because many lack prescribing competence after graduation. This is in part due to inadequate education in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CP&T) in the undergraduate medical curriculum. To support CP&T education, it is important to determine which drugs medical undergraduates should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision by the time they graduate. Currently, there is no such list with broad-based consensus. Therefore, the aim was to reach consensus on a list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education in the Netherlands.METHODS: A two-round modified Delphi study was conducted among pharmacists, medical specialists, junior doctors and pharmacotherapy teachers from all eight Dutch academic hospitals. Participants were asked to indicate whether it was essential that medical graduates could prescribe specific drugs included on a preliminary list. Drugs for which ≥80% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed were included in the final list.RESULTS: In all, 42 (65%) participants completed the two Delphi rounds. A total of 132 drugs (39%) from the preliminary list and two (3%) newly proposed drugs were included.CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Delphi consensus study to identify the drugs that Dutch junior doctors should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision. This list can be used to harmonize and support the teaching and assessment of CP&T. Moreover, this study shows that a Delphi method is suitable to reach consensus on such a list, and could be used for a European list.

AB - AIMS: Prescribing errors among junior doctors are common in clinical practice because many lack prescribing competence after graduation. This is in part due to inadequate education in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CP&T) in the undergraduate medical curriculum. To support CP&T education, it is important to determine which drugs medical undergraduates should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision by the time they graduate. Currently, there is no such list with broad-based consensus. Therefore, the aim was to reach consensus on a list of essential drugs for undergraduate medical education in the Netherlands.METHODS: A two-round modified Delphi study was conducted among pharmacists, medical specialists, junior doctors and pharmacotherapy teachers from all eight Dutch academic hospitals. Participants were asked to indicate whether it was essential that medical graduates could prescribe specific drugs included on a preliminary list. Drugs for which ≥80% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed were included in the final list.RESULTS: In all, 42 (65%) participants completed the two Delphi rounds. A total of 132 drugs (39%) from the preliminary list and two (3%) newly proposed drugs were included.CONCLUSIONS: This is the first Delphi consensus study to identify the drugs that Dutch junior doctors should be able to prescribe safely and effectively without direct supervision. This list can be used to harmonize and support the teaching and assessment of CP&T. Moreover, this study shows that a Delphi method is suitable to reach consensus on such a list, and could be used for a European list.

KW - Clinical pharmacology

KW - Medical education

KW - Pharmacology teaching

KW - Pharmacotherapy

U2 - 10.1111/bcp.15606

DO - 10.1111/bcp.15606

M3 - Article

C2 - 36403122

SN - 0306-5251

VL - 89

SP - 1431

EP - 1451

JO - British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

JF - British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

IS - 4

ER -