Pass the PSA

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If that section is not there, then you should start by identifying the answer choices with correct information and eliminating those with wrong information, using your clinical knowledge. The BNF is often helpful in this, but you will waste time if you look it up for every one of the choices. Then, you have to use your judgement to determine which of the correct information is the most appropriate to be given to the patient. Prescribing is a fundamental part of the work of Foundation Year 1 doctors, who write and review many prescriptions each day. It is a complex task requiring knowledge of medicines and the diseases they are used to treat, careful judgment of risks and benefits of treatment, and attention to detail. You have to determine the immediate next step of management that is most appropriate, based on the diagnosis. It may be pharmacological or non-pharmacological management, and you should consider both equally. Each question in this section will consist of a scenario where a patient is being prescribed a particular drug and you will be asked to decide on what information should be communicated to the patient.

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Learn the common and serious side-effects and monitoring requirements for: ACEi, antidepressants, anticoagulants, bisphosphonates, HRT, insulin, methotrexate, and statins. Each question carries 10 marks, where 5 marks are for the drug choice and 5 marks are for the dose, route & frequency. A perfect answer scores 5 marks, a suboptimal answer scores between 1 to 4 marks, while a wrong answer scores 0 mark. Note that the mark you get for dose, route & frequency cannot be higher than the mark you get for drug choice. I spent roughly 2 hours each weekend from September to February revising my pharmacology notes and using the books mentioned to become familiar with the exam. This helped me to prepare both the PSA and my finals in February. After that I spent 4-5 hours per day for the 3 weeks prior to the PSA consolidating my knowledge and completing the practice papers.You will be given a clinical scenario where a drug (often new) has been prescribed. You will be asked to select the most appropriate monitoring actions.

Pass the PSA - 2nd Edition - Elsevier Pass the PSA - 2nd Edition - Elsevier

You will be provided with a clinical scenario and some investigation results and tasked with determining the most appropriate course of action forward with regard to prescribing. (e.g withdrawing a medication, reducing its dose, no change, increasing its dose or switching to a new medication). Rememberitstheinformationthatislikelytocausethemostproblemtothepatient.Althoughsimilaranswersmaybepresent,choosetheinformationthatislikelytocausePATIENTHARMifnototherwisementionedegstartingapatientonOCPandtheriskofDVT/PEmustbementionedwouldbeyourtopinfo

a)Thissectionmayhavepicturesofaskinconditonusuallyaninfection(fungal/bacterial)becauseyouwouldprescribetreatment.Notforviralanytopicalmedsusually.Sorunthroughfungal/bacterialskininfections There is a 'Monitoring requirements' section in the BNF for many drugs. The information under that section is often the answer for questions about the monitoring required before prescribing a drug as well as questions about the monitoring for adverse effects.

pass the Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA)… How to pass the Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA)…

There are certain adverse effects and drug interactions that are commonly asked in this section. Try to take note of them when doing practice questions and remember the common drugs involved.For questions about the monitoring for beneficial effects, you need to use your clinical knowledge and judgement to determine to most appropriate monitoring option. The information about that is not usually available in the BNF. Know where to find things e.g. often important information to communicate about a drug is in the ‘patient and carer advice’ section. I commonly used this section during the exam.

Preparing for the PSA » Becoming a Doctor Preparing for the PSA » Becoming a Doctor

You might also be interested in our Prescribing Safety Assessment Question Bank which contains over 500 prescribing questions. In most cases, you should prescribe a drug using its generic name, unless if only its brand name is the approved name. Do not prescribe any non-pharmacological treatment. Use your clinical knowledge and judgement to determine the most suitable drug or fluid, taking into consideration all information provided in the question. You can also refer to the BNF for guidance if needed, though not all information is available in the BNF. You need to know the management guidelines for the more common conditions. Important guidelines are those that can be found in the books, and you should look up the internet for the most up-to-date version of those guidelines. Some guidelines are available in the BNF. PSA Question Item Styles: Planning Management, Providing Information, Adverse Drug, Reactions, Drug Monitoring and Data Interpretation - Dr Lynne Bollington

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For F1s, the PSA certificate does not have an expiry date as such. A PSA pass within two years prior to starting the F1 year is valid, but the pass does not expire during the F1 year (e.g. if a trainee joins the foundation programme in August 2022 and passed the PSA in February 2021, the PSA certificate would not expire in February 2023 before their F1 year is complete). If trainees are required to record an expiry date in their e-portfolio it is suggested that the last date of the F1 year is entered. If your medical school provides teaching or practice sessions for the PSA, you should attend them. Be sure to engage well with the sessions. If you don't understand anything, ask your lecturer or friends. All F1 doctors are required to pass the PSA to be awarded a Foundation Year 1 Certificate of Completion (F1CC) at the end of the first year of the foundation programme. The recommended reference books for the PSA are Pass The PSA, Get Ahead! The Prescribing Safety Assessment, MasterPass Student Success in the Prescribing Safety Assessment, Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (10th Edition), Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialties (10th Edition) and the textbooks for the specialties. Note that the questions in the MasterPass Student Success in the Prescribing Safety Assessment book are not well aligned with the PSA format, but it's still useful to do them as a practice.