The Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) is an online test that aims to confirm suitability to prescribe medicine in a safe and effective manner. This assessment is undertaken by either Year 5 medical students, those individuals entering their Foundation Year training or overseas medical graduates arriving in the United Kingdom to work within the National Health Service as Foundation Year 1 Doctors.

The PSA has been devised and developed to link those key principles taught at university that underpin drug pharmacology and end-use with the real-world clinical practice. This online test provides opportunity for candidates to demonstrate their competence when prescribing medication via the completion of multiple-choice questions alongside other question styles.

Here at www.pharmascholar.co.uk, we thought it would be an excellent idea to publish a list of top tips to pass the PSA on our Blog page. As per our pharmaPSA page, we are able to support you with your PSA journey in terms of:

Explaining the core competencies within the Outcomes for Graduates document (GMC, 2018).
Supporting understanding of the British National Formulary (BNF) and how to use effectively.
Outlining key concepts within practice tests whilst expanding your knowledge and increasing your confidence.
Addressing any issues you may face in terms of your medical / pharmaceutical knowledge-base.

Whilst offering this form of support, we also thought it would be useful to publish our top tips for PSA success here on our Blog page.

First of all, it’s really important that you understand the structure of the PSA ahead of sitting the test. This assessment involves 200 marks that are up for grabs within a 120-minute timeframe. In total, there are 8 sections and these are summarised below:

Prescribing.
Prescription Review.
Planning Management.
Providing Information.
Calculation Skills.
Adverse Drug Reactions.
Drug Monitoring.
Data Interpretation.

Take good care with you time! You only have 36 seconds per mark. As such, you need to have a good understanding of medicine and drug use for disease management in advance and draw on this instead of referring solely to the BNF for each answer. At www.pharmascholar.co.uk, we can provide you with a sound overview of important aspects of Pharmacy relating to medicines use (i.e. the ‘class-effect’ associated with drug use).

You must also be very familiar with the BNF and know how to locate information quickly and accurately. Typically, the electronic version of the BNF is now used within Medical Education and for PSA sittings so you will need to know how to effectively use this online platform. Important areas for consideration include where to find information on opioid prescribing (i.e. conversion tables), the use of hormone replacement therapy (i.e. converting between oral combination products and topical combination products) and prescribing medicines in the elderly (i.e. reducing the dose of citalopram when compared to use in a middle aged patient).

In the prescribing section, it is important to be mindful of drug choice when presented with a clinical situation and how to use the medicine effectively to manage the presenting disease. For example, drug dosing, the route of drug delivery and the frequency of use are crucial aspects for consideration. Here at www.pharmascholar.co.uk, we can help with improving your understanding of these parameters so that you know exactly how a medicine presents in real-life and how to use it effectively in the clinic. In a similar way, you should be very familiar with prescribing fluids for maintenance, rehydration and resuscitation purposes. Reference to guidelines and the BNF is central to success with this part but importantly remembering typical patient requirements based on weight will help no end in saving you time.

The prescription review section requires you to determine those drug substances that are causing a negative outcome in the patient or are contraindicated for patient use. Recently, the electronic BNF has been updated to include those drugs that may cause certain issues (i.e. diazepam and CNS depressant effects) so make sure that you know how to locate these sections ahead of the PSA. We have included the link here for further information.

Finally, it is very important to spend time practising and consequently understanding how to complete the PSA effectively. A number of resources are available for purchase, and we will flag these over time in our forthcoming Blog posts. In the meantime, please book an appointment with our Lead Tutor, Dr Davies, who will be able to provide you with bespoke advice to build your confidence and ability to pass the PSA in style. All meetings are tailored to the individual and are totally confidential. To get in touch please use mike@pharmascholar.co.uk today.

All that remains is for us to wish you all the best with your PSA sitting and send good luck for the future as a United Kingdom qualified doctor!