Health Education England elearning for healthcare and The British Pharmacological Society have worked together to develop the Prescribing Simulator which is a formative assessment tool for all prescribers to develop their prescribing skills.

On accessing the Prescribing Simulator users are presented with clinical scenarios in a hospital setting that require a medicine to be prescribed using an electronic prescription form. The prescription is then automatically scored, and feedback is provided to guide the user as to where improvements can be made.

After logging into the simulator users can select a test based on either clinical setting, therapeutic area or even patient age. Selecting the test allows a strength or weakness to be targeted to areas of personal improvement. Alternatively, users can access pre-prepared assessments for a variety of lengths and topics to test their general knowledge.

While the scenarios on the Prescribing Simulator are written in a hospital setting the cases are relevant to general practitioners, pharmacists and other prescribing groups.

After logging into the simulator users can select tests based on clinical setting or therapeutic area to complete targeted development based on the following areas:

The Prescribing Simulator aligns to relevant learning outcomes set out in ‘Outcomes for Graduates’ (published by the GMC). It also provides learning material that is relevant to UK final year medical students preparing to sit the Prescribing Safety Assessment and also aligned to many of the competencies highlighted in the Prescribing Competency Framework.

For more information about the Prescribing Simulator, including how to access, visit: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/prescribing-simulator/.