Assessing Prescription Writing Principles in Prescriptions of Medical Students during Internship

The acquisition of prescribing knowledge and skill is essential in medical practice. We assessed the prescribing principles and drug errors in prescriptions written by interns in Al-Zahra educational hospital of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in autumn 2011. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 3800 prescriptions of outpatients issued by interns were evaluated for prescription structure (date, symbol, registration, signature, and illegibility), drug-related components (generic or brand name, dosage form, strength, and quantity), and directions for use. Mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.7 and most of the prescriptions (84%) were written illegibly. Generic names were used in 82% of prescriptions; error of omission of dosage form was found in 6% and missing or incorrect strength in 4% of prescriptions. Drug direction was correct only in 18.3% and there were different errors in other prescriptions such as missing the rout of administration (63.7%), using “as directed” (21.5%) or “as required” (18%) and missing of dosing interval (51.3%). The results of this study showed errors and incompleteness in prescription writing of students during internship course, especially in directions for use and dosing interval. The improvement of medical education for enhancing knowledge and skill of correct prescribing is suggested.