Welcome to the homepage of the EACPT Education Sub-Committee (EsC). Prescribing medicines is a fundamental skill for most doctors. Medicines are the commonest form of therapeutic intervention to improve health but also the commonest cause of iatrogenic disease. Safe and effective use of medicines should be underpinned by a good education in the principles of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, both within medical schools and during postgraduate studies. The stated aims of EACPT within its statutes include ‘improving and harmonising the teaching of the rational use of drugs at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels’ and ‘promoting high professional standards in the prescribing of drugs’.

The mission of the EsC is

-         To promote good quality teaching of rational pharmacotherapy

-         To share examples of good education practice

-         To improve access to teaching materials

-         To maintain a stated set of core curriculum outcomes for European medical students

-         To promote research into education for safe prescribing

-         To disseminate the results of such research

-         To highlight education as an important activity of clinical pharmacologists

There have been recent concerns expressed in some European countries about the state of teaching in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. For those reasons the current objectives of the committee are

•  to investigate the current state of undergraduate education for safe prescribing in European countries
• develop consensus on what should be expected of a safe prescriber at graduation
• explore which curricula might deliver this outcome
• explore assessments that would demonstrate that a minimum standard had been reached
• understand how knowledge and skills can best be reinforced in the postgraduate period

Colleagues who would like to contribute to the work of the EsC should contact either of the Chairmen at the e-mail addresses below. Further information and resources are available by clicking on the links below.

Members of the Education SubCommittee

Core learning outcomes for European medical students in relation to safe prescribing

Teaching and assessement materials

Links to useful education websites

Prof Theo de Vries - thpgm.devries@vumc.nl

Dr Simon Maxwell - s.maxwell@ed.ac.uk