Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19594535›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2009

Do educational interventions improve prescribing by medical students and junior doctors? A systematic review.

Sarah Ross, Yoon K Loke

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
81citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

81 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  9. A 'SMART' way to determine treatment goals in pharmacotherapy education.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2016
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  15. What should be updated in the WHO guide to good prescribing?European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026
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21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Sarah RossDivision of Medical and Dental Education, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK. s.ross@abdn.ac.uk
Yoon K Loke

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Our aim was to review systematically the literature on educational interventions to improve prescribing by medical students and junior doctors. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Educational Resource Information Center, British Education Index, PsycINFO, CINAHL, TIMELIT, Cochrane Trials Database and grey literature were searched. Inclusion criteria were: educational interventions to improve medical student and/or junior doctors' prescribing, in primary or secondary care settings, and published after 1990. After screening 3189 records, we retrieved 11 controlled and four 'before-and-after' trials. Ten controlled trials showed improvements in the scores of the intervention group on written scenarios or clinical examination stations, but one study in junior doctors showed no effect on real-life prescription errors. Only one intervention [the World Health Organization (WHO) Good Prescribing Guide, in six randomized trials] had been tested in a variety of international settings and across a range of students at different levels. All four 'before-and-after' trials reported significant improvements in written tests or clinical stations. However, most studies tested only small numbers of participants and were affected by a range of methodological flaws. There is only moderate evidence in the literature to inform medical schools about how to prepare medical students for the challenges of prescribing. The WHO Good Prescribing Guide is the only model that has been widely used and shown to improve prescribing. Although it is based on sound principles, there is a need for further development. Robust methods of assessment are required to show clearly whether particular teaching interventions are successful.

Indexed as

Clinical CompetenceDrug PrescriptionsEducation, Medical, UndergraduateHumansMedical Staff, HospitalMedication ErrorsRandomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Identifiers

PMID19594535
PMCPMC2723206

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.