The Education of Prescribers for Safe and Effective Use of Medications

The transformation of medical education, with the disappearance of sequential lectures in pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and therapeutics, has left gaps in skills needed for new physicians and other prescribers to safely incorporate medications into clinical practice. Brinkman et al. conducted a Delphi study of European Union (EU) medical school educators and practitioners to identify core competencies needed to prescribe medications. Their findings offer directions for learned societies, such as ASCPT, to enhance pharmacology education and practice.