It is important to elicit which one of these is being tested as different tests are often required. (e.g., weight is the best monitoring measure for the beneficial effects of furosemide in someone with fluid overload, however, to monitor for harmful effects – renal function) You should also revise the fluid management, opioid pain management, insulin management and pre-operative management topics in the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine. Questions on these topics are common in the PSA and many find them difficult. Fluid management is particularly important. 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 Finished Prepare for the PSA? Try the links below for more practice exam questions and information on prescribing.

Typically, you will be provided with 5 options and tasked with deciding which treatment would be most appropriate in the management of the given clinical scenario. DoesanyoneknowhowtochangeaHRTdosewhilealsoconvertingitfromtablettopatch?IsthereaconversiontablesomewherethatIhaven'tfound?Ican'tfindanyinformationotherthantheBNFbasicprinciplesofHRT.NodosesoradviceonhowtoswitchsoI'mreallystrugglingtofindtheanswer. Assessment Map [image on the internet]. Accessed 24/07/2012). Reproduced with permission of the Medical Schools Council and the British Pharmacological Society. The treatment summaries can help in this section if you are not sure what drug should be used. However, having a good basic understanding of most conditions allows you to focus on looking up the appropriate drug based on your prior understanding which helps save time.

However, research indicates that newly-qualified doctors find prescribing particularly challenging, and the EQUIP study identified errors in 8.4% of the 50016 prescriptions written by FY1 doctors it reviewed in 2009. Search up the medications “monitoring requirements”, “important safety information” or “pre-treatment screening” on the BNF.

Selecting the correct answers from a list of 6-10 drugs (i.e. choose 1-3 correct answers): prescription review If unsure of how to manage ADR, the answers can often be found in the respective treatment summaries of the BNF. For examples – medication overdoses (poisoning, emergency treatment), hypoglycaemia (hypoglycaemia), reversal of a high INR (oral anticoagulants). Smellie WS, Coleman JJ. Pitfalls of testing and summary of guidance on safety monitoring with amiodarone and digoxin. BMJ 2007;334(7588):312-5. The information that is important can often be found in “important safety information” ( e.g Rivaroxaban not being effective on an empty stomach ), “patient and carer advice” (e.g advice regarding missed contraceptive doses) or “monitoring requirements”. The PSA is aimed at final year medical students and those graduating overseas to assess their competency at prescribing as Foundation Year 1 Doctors. It can also be taken by FY1s if they have not passed it in their final year or had not attempted it before.

These sections include:

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. Calculationsarounddrugconversions-againlookatthePASSthePSAbookonesandknowtheconversionof1%2%intosuitablecalculations.Somewillbebasicratios