The British Pharmacological Society recently published an updated curriculum for the teaching of clinical pharmacology, therapeutics and prescribing in medical degrees and if you work in medical education it is well worth a read.

 

Prescribing a medicine is the most common patient facing healthcare intervention, and the process is a complex one. The curriculum sets out the core knowledge and skills that graduating doctors will need as a foundation for safe and effective prescribing throughout their careers. 

 

The curriculum is divided into four sections and the first covers the principles of clinical pharmacology, giving students the foundations they need early in their degree. The second is a suggested student formulary, a core list of drugs that a graduating doctor should know in some depth. The third addresses therapeutics, covering the clinical conditions and their pharmacological treatment that every graduating student needs to understand. The fourth focuses on prescribing and related skills. 

 

Importantly, the curriculum is designed to be flexible in how its content should be delivered. Individual medical schools are best placed to decide how to use it within their own programmes and it is designed to serve as a supportive framework for mapping learning rather than a rigid instruction. 

 

The updated curriculum was produced through a modified Delphi process involving experts with a broad experience of clinical pharmacology education from across the United Kingdom, and was overseen by a steering committee of expert educators in the field.

 

At BPS Assessment, a number of our eLearning modules and assessments already align closely with areas covered across the four sections in the curriculum. If you are reviewing how your teaching maps to the updated guidance, our resources may be a useful complement.

 

Get in touch with the BPS Assessment team if you would like to find out more.

 

You can view and download the full BPS curriculum here