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When clinical training begins, most medical students do not have a distinct idea of how to prescribe a drug to their patients or what information they should provide to them. In fact, the basic pharmacological training has been focused more on theory than on practice. Usually, the contents of the subject "pharmacology" are "drug-focused" and consist of studying the mechanisms of action and the pharmacological properties of drugs. But in clinical practice, it is crucial to think the other way around: from the diagnosis to the drug. Besides, patients vary in their age, sex, size and socio-cultural characteristics, and these factors determine the selection of treatment. Patients also have their own perceptions of what is an appropriate treatment and should be fully informed treatment partners. These issues are not always taught in medical schools, where the number of hours devoted to therapeutics is low, compared with that of traditional pharmacology teaching or physiopathology and diagnosis.
The "Good Prescribing Guide" is a step-by-step guide to the process of the reasoned prescription of a drug, and contains some illustrative examples. It teaches the necessary steps to select the most suitable medication for each patient, that is, skills that will be necessary throughout the professional activity. Graduate students and doctors can also find in this Guide a source of new ideas and perhaps an incentive for change.
In this project, a computer application (for web and mobile devices) based on the "Good Prescribing Guide" of the World Health Organization has been designed with the purpose of elaborating in a structured way a personalized vademecum that is useful for the teaching of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and for future use as doctors. This website, and its related App, stores the activity of the students enrolled every year in the courses that use the application, for their evaluation and the study of prescription patterns (using dissociated data).
We thank you for your cooperation and welcome any comments or suggestion for improvement.
Prof. Emilio J. Sanz MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology. Universidad de La Laguna (esanz@ull.edu.es)
Dr. Eduardo Puerta MD, PhD, Specialist in Family and Community Medicine.Universidad de La Laguna (epuerta@ull.edu.es)
