You will be asked to choose an appropriate drug or intravenous fluid with its corresponding dose, route, and frequency. Be ready to answer questions on drugs that require monitoring of their plasma levels (e.g. phenytoin, digoxin, lithium). National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Venous thromboembolism: reducing the risk of venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) in patients admitted to hospital CG92. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2010. Wilson JF. In clinic. Diabetic ketoacidosis. Ann Intern Med 2010;152(1):ITC1-1, ITC1-2, ITC1-3,ITC1-4, ITC1-5, ITC1-6, ITC1-7, ITC1-8, ITC1-9, ITC1-10, ITC1-11, ITC1-12, ITC1-13, ITC1-14, ITC1-15, table of contents; quiz ITC1-16. Don’t lose easy marks! As prescribing counts for a whopping great 40% of the marks don’t lose out on the ample marks available for your signature and the date!

The PSA is designed to be taken in two hours. Extra time of up to 30 minutes can be accommodated for those eligible for reasonable adjustments. The paper will consist of 60 items. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Osteoarthritis CG59. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2008. I try my best to ensure that all information on this blog is accurate and up-to-date. However, this cannot always be guaranteed. For example, if there is any latest information, I cannot update that on my blog immediately as it takes some time for me to do so.

Key features of the PSA question bank

British Pharmacological Society, Medical Schools Council. About the PSA [internet]. Accessed 25/07/2012. The beginning of Appendix 1 in the paper BNF contains several tables of ‘drugs that cause…’. This saves you from looking up each drug individually when being asked which drug is most likely to cause ‘x’.

The PSA question bank matches the format of the official PSA questions, including the ability to write prescriptions. An example of a prescribing question in the PSA question bank Filter by PSA question format You have to choose the most appropriate answer from the 5 choices of answers, using your clinical knowledge and judgement. The BNF may be able to help, but only in some cases. You need to know the management guidelines for the more common conditions. Important guidelines are those that can be found in the books, and you should look up the internet for the most up-to-date version of those guidelines. Some guidelines are available in the BNF. questions-long practice papers are available to candidates who are registered to take the assessment. You should treat the PSA like the final examinations of your medical school. You need to revise your clinical knowledge for the PSA as not all information is available in the BNF. This also reduces the need to refer to the BNF during the PSA, which saves time.

How many questions are on the prescribing safety assessment?

With the exception of the Prescribing and Prescription Review sections, each question in all other sections carries 2 marks. A correct answer scores 2 marks while an incorrect answer scores 0 mark, there is no in-between. Written by Finn Catling (Medical Student, University of Bristol). Moderated by Dr. Robert Baker (Lead for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Bristol). The Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) is an internet-based examination taken by students in UK medical schools during the final year. I took the PSA on 1 February 2019 and managed to pass it with a score of 72%, while the pass threshold was 63%. I took the PSA again on 3 February 2020 and managed to pass it with a score of 87%, while the pass threshold was 61%.Currently, I am a teaching fellow at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed).Here, I would like to share some tips for passing the PSA. These tips are intended for all medical students who are taking or retaking the PSA. DoesanyoneknowhowtochangeaHRTdosewhilealsoconvertingitfromtablettopatch?IsthereaconversiontablesomewherethatIhaven'tfound?Ican'tfindanyinformationotherthantheBNFbasicprinciplesofHRT.NodosesoradviceonhowtoswitchsoI'mreallystrugglingtofindtheanswer. Learn the common and serious side-effects and monitoring requirements for: ACEi, antidepressants, anticoagulants, bisphosphonates, HRT, insulin, methotrexate, and statins.

The PSA is an essential component of demonstrating the necessary competences for successful completion of the Foundation Year 1. It is a national requirement for all F1 doctors to demonstrate a pass by the end of the year. All foundation doctors will be required to pass the PSA before being signed off as having successfully completed the F1 year and being awarded the F1CC. If the PSA was passed more than two years before starting foundation training, it will need to be successfully retaken before completion of the F1 year. Smart study tools such as note sharing and subscription, review mode, and Microsoft OneNote integration. If that section is not there, then you should start by identifying the answer choices with correct information and eliminating those with wrong information, using your clinical knowledge. The BNF is often helpful in this, but you will waste time if you look it up for every one of the choices. Then, you have to use your judgement to determine which of the correct information is the most appropriate to be given to the patient.

Be aware that abnormal test results don’t always alter the management plan – for example, serum transaminases can be raised by up to 3x the upper limit of normal before statins should be discontinued. [Ref: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug-class/statins.html] In most cases, you should prescribe a drug using its generic name, unless if only its brand name is the approved name. Do not prescribe any non-pharmacological treatment. You will be provided with a clinical scenario and some investigation results and tasked with determining the most appropriate course of action forward with regard to prescribing. (e.g withdrawing a medication, reducing its dose, no change, increasing its dose or switching to a new medication). For pharmacological management, the dose, route of administration, frequency and duration of each drug in the choices of answers may or may not be correct, so you need to think about them as well. These information are available in the BNF, though not usually for fluid management. Even if among the 5 choices there is only one drug with one dose, route, frequency and duration, do not assume that everything is correct for that drug. Keeling D, Baglin T, Tait C, Watson H, Perry D, Baglin C, et al. Guidelines on oral anticoagulation with warfarin - fourth edition. British journal of haematology 2011;154(3):311-24.