Prescription of medications is an important part of the treatment process in the medical and dental field. Pre-graduate dental students in the University of Dammam take two pharmacology courses during their twelve-semesters program in the pre and clinical phases in which they are supposed to acquire the skills of accurately prescribing drugs. However, in the pre-clinical phase, particularly in the fifth level, the course aims to deliver the basics of pharmacology in the form of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, the main categories of drugs and their respective side effects which is more theoretical rather than the more needed practical part in the field of dental practice. Dental students would have to wait till the tenth level to have the second pharmacology course which is more practical in addition to studying the common drugs in dental practice. Since the clinical phase starts in the seventh semester, students wouldn’t be prepared to actively and effectively prescribe medications to patients whenever it is needed. Instead, this is usually done by faculty members with the students trying to follow their lead and gain their experience. Some students might even seek help from their senior colleagues.

Such a problem does exist among most of the undergraduates internationally as pointed in similar studies. With one of them concluded that the most error students have made, was related to drug posology (74.2%). Followed by improperly filled prescriptions (10.7%).

Being students we noticed that we lack the experience in prescribing medications to patients, and this could have serious impacts on our patients in many ways, starting from prolongation of treatment plan, increase the healthcare cost, or even the exacerbation of the present illness . Some students think that their prescribing skills will improve after graduation but some researches, according the World Health Organization, have indicated that even though the general experience might get improved, the prescribing skills did not improve significantly.

The number of dental colleges is increasing in the country; to our knowledge no current researches had investigated this mater among dental students in Saudi Arabia. So the aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and prescribing skills among dental students in the University of Dammam and to evaluate the efficiency of an online application in improving their knowledge and skills.

Goals

1. To ensure graduates will excel and lead the future of oral health
2. To conduct research for the benefit of education, patient care and scientific discovery
3. To provide state-of-the art facilities for dental education and patient care
4. To promote the oral health of the community at large

Values

1. Integrity
2. Respect
3. Accountability
4. Empathy
5. Collaboration
6. Social Responsibility
7. Innovation

Attributes

1. Effective communication and networking.
2. Professionalism demonstrated at all levels.
3. Evidence-based practice foundation for dental education and patient care.
4. Exemplifies the ethical standards and social responsibility.
5. Commitment to discovery and scholarly activities.

Idea

- Hassan Ayesh Alali
- Abdulaziz Ibrahim Alali
- Hassan Abdulmohsen Alali
- Abdulrahman Abdullah Alghamdi
- Ahmed Hassan Alkhalaf
- Loai Mohammed Alhairani

Supervised by

- Dr. Balgis Jaffer, BDS, MSc lecturer division of Dental Public Health - PDS Department - UoD
- Mr. Hatem Abuohashish, MSc lecturer of Pharmacology - UoD

Developed by

- Abdul-Aziz Al-Faifi - Manager
- Kamran Fareed - Designer
- Ahmad Wahdan - Developer

References

1. Pharmacology and Therapeutics for Dentistry by Yagiela sixth edition.
2. WHO’s guide to good prescribing.