Development and Validation of a Teaching Module for Prescription Writing for Dental Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Objectives: Dentists commonly encounter patients with complex medical comorbidities that require an advanced level of competence in the art of prescription writing. However, the current structure of dental education often places limited emphasis on this critical skill. This study aimed to develop and validate an innovative teaching module designed to enhance prescription-writing skills for dental students, with a specific focus on patients with medical comorbid conditions.

Methods: This study was completed in two phases. In phase 1, an interprofessional education (IPE) designed comprehensive teaching module was created. The topics included in this teaching module were medical comorbidities, drug interactions, and best prescription practices. The developed teaching module's face and content were validated, and the item- content validity index (I-CVI) was computed. In phase 2, the teaching module was tested among 48 dental students as part of a randomized controlled trial.

Results: A pool of eight items addressing different aspects related to prescription writing were validated in dental students. All the eight items reached an I-CVI for relevance and structure of ≥0.8. In phase 2, the intervention group, exposed to the teaching module on skill development of prescription writing, showed a statistically significant increase in their prescription-writing skill than the control group.

Conclusion: The introduction of a teaching module aimed at developing prescriptions for medical co-morbidities could substantially improve the prescription writing abilities of dental students.