Last month, a handful of fourth-year Doctor of Pharmacy students stood at the front of the classroom to invite 300 second-year medical students into their wheelhouse.

Department of Pharmacy Practice faculty members Dr. Aline Saad and Dr. Brittany Stewart worked with Dr. Christopher Guyer from the WSU School of Medicine to develop and implement the Interprofessional Prescription Writing Workshop.

The event engaged medical students in various activities, allowing them to practice prescription writing both electronically and on prescription pads. Student pharmacists Monica Aziz, Maya El Sabbagh, Jacob Dudash, Misty-Mae Hankin, Ranem Kishmish, Jessica Murad and Zenab Rashid sharpened their educator skills by helping facilitate the workshop and instructing on the elements required for a prescription to be safely dispensed to patients.

The objectives of the two-day workshop were:

Identify the required elements of a prescription​​

Use appropriate routes of administration and abbreviations ​

Calculate appropriate dose for a weight-based medication​

Explain the legal requirements of a prescription: controlled vs. non-controlled​​

Explain the required components of electronic prescribing (e-prescriptions)​​

Identify sources of error in prescription writing​​

Provide appropriate patient counseling for a new prescription​​

"Teaching SOM colleagues about a pharmacy-focused skill was nothing short of a rewarding experience," said Murad. "Our SOM colleagues were engaged and interested in learning the aspects of prescription writing, making the experience worthwhile and beneficial for both M2 and P4 students."

Hankin, who was on an academic rotation with Stewart and instrumental in helping develop the workshop content, added, "It was very refreshing to teach medical students how to properly write prescriptions, as this is one of the main reasons that pharmacists call doctors - to ask for information that is either required by law or that is needed to properly fill the prescription."

Dr. Saad and Dr. Stewart praised the pharmacy students for their collaborative efforts and deemed the workshop to be a major success.

"These are critical skills for medical students to learn prescribing best practices and a valuable addition to the PharmD and SOM interprofessional education initiatives," Dr. Stewart said. "I am extremely proud of the P4 student pharmacists for their dedicated time and leadership with this project and impressed with the M2 medical students' active engagement and eagerness to learn during the workshops." The P4s concurred.

"The medical students seemed very happy and appreciative at the end of the session, and learned a great deal in a small amount of time," said Kishmish. "Being a lecturer was a great experience. I love teaching and helping those who will care for patients in the future."

Murad added, "The workshop highlighted the importance of interprofessional communication between prescribers and pharmacists as it relates to patient care and prescribing. It emphasized the value of open and frequent communication between health care providers in order to deliver safe and effective care for our patients."

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The Doctor of Pharmacy program at Wayne State University is a four-year curriculum in the heart of Detroit. Approximately 100 students are enrolled in each year of the program. WSU Applebaum information meetings for prospective students take place at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month. The application process for the Doctor of Pharmacy program begins each July.

An anchor in urban health care

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is built on more than 100 years of tradition and innovation in the heart of Detroit. We have grown deep roots in our city, harnessing its powerhouse hospital systems and community service organizations as vibrant, real-world training grounds for students, with an ongoing focus on social justice in health care. And our research at all levels - from undergraduates to veteran faculty members - translates into creative solutions for healthier communities.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering approximately 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 25,000 students.