Are King Edward Medical University graduates adequately trained to prescribe medicine at the point of graduation? Views of house officers

Background: drugs are the major therapeutic intervention provided by most doctors throughout their careers. the pakistan medical & dental council expects all medical students to be competent to prescribe at the point of graduation. aims: the aim of this study was to assess the views of house officers and doctors who had recently graduated from the king edward medical university about their training and competence in relation to the use of drugs based on their early clinical experience. method: a questionnaires was constructed based on tomorrow's doctors 2002 and distributed to house officers doctors who graduated in 2007. results: responses were received from 103(67.8%) of the doctors who graduated in 2007. only 19% respondents considered themselves competent to prescribe at the point of graduation. less than 35% of respondents felt comfortable in providing information about possible treatment to allow patients to make informed decisions about their care. the majority of respondents complained about a lack of formal teaching and practice at basic clinical skills relating to drug therapy. conclusion: many graduates feel under-prepared to take on prescribing responsibilities after graduation. these findings emphasis the need to ensure that all medical curricula are able to provide sufficient learning opportunities and robust assessment in this important area of clinical practice.