PRINCIPLES OF RATIONAL PRESCRIBING
IN PSYCHIATRY
(Towards the development of a UK psychopharmacology
curriculum)
Development
Partners
Psychopharmacology Special Interest Group
(Royal College of Psychiatrists)
British Association for Psychopharmacology
Aims
We plan to develop a pragmatic and clinically applicable
psychopharmacology curriculum. It is hoped that this structured,
evidence-based curriculum will serve as the basis for the formal
teaching of psychopharmacology across the UK.
The need to develop such a curriculum originates from the
assumption that the quality and scope of formal training on the
rational prescribing and psychopharmacology is very heterogeneous
across the country.
The aims of this initiative are to teach prescribers in
psychiatry:
- How to prescribe psychotropic drugs safely.
- How to prescribe psychotropic drugs effectively.
- How to monitor psychotropic drug treatment safely and
effectively.
- The clinical indications for psychotropic drug treatments.
- The limitations of pharmacotherapy in psychiatry.
- The basic mechanisms of drug action relevant to
prescribing.
Development process
The development of the curriculum will begin with the
establishment of a steering committee and development and advisory
committee, with broad representation.
Daily progress and management of this initiative is undertaken
by the Education Office of the Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit,
Manchester University, as formally agreed at the SIGP meeting in
Manchester (2002).
Therefore, comments on this initiative are invited from members
of the Psychopharmacology Special Interest Group and the British
Association for Psychopharmacology, and should be submitted
below.
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