Introduction:- Prescription writing is “a written order, which includes detailed instructions of what medicine should be given to whom, in what formulation and dose, by what route, when, how frequently, how long.”Most of the time dental treatments require prescription. The study mainly focuses on assessment of prescription writing skills of interns, post-graduate students and faculty member of a dental college. Objectives:-To writing determine their competency and knowledge gained during pharmacology and therapeutics and to assess the knowledge of prescription skill of interns, post graduate students and staff of a dental college and hospital, Pune. Method: -It is a cross sectional questionnaire based study to assess the prescription writing skills following WHO format was conducted among 200 participants including interns, PG, Staff. Participants were asked to write a detailed prescription format without any pre-printed format. A blank space without any pre-printed parameter was provided for prescription writing. Each twenty parameters were used for prescription writing having a score of 1.The parameters used for the study were taken from WHO prescription writing format which are as follows Hospital name, hospital address, date, patients name, patients age, patients sex, patients address, doctors name, professor degree and registration number, doctors signature, symbol Rx, diagnosis, drug name, dose, frequency, route, duration, refill information, quantity to be dispensed and instruction for labeling. Results:-The forms were scored for 20 parameters which were to be ideally mentioned in a well written prescription. Frequency (99%) and symbol Rx (94.5%) were the most commonly listed, followed by duration (92%), Patient’s name (81%), Patients age (77.5%), Refill Information (2%), Patient’s Sex(60%), Date (60%), Doctors Signature (55.5%), Doctor’s Name (47.5%), Quantity (77%), Label (37.5%) Registration Number (39.5%) and Designation: - Interns (37.5%), Post Graduates (27.5%) and Faculty Member (35%). Parameter that where least or not listed include Route of Administration (0%), Diagnosis (1%), Patient’s Address (3%), Hospital Address (6%), Hospital name (8%), Dose (18%), drug name (21%). Conclusion:-The current study concluded that prescription writing skills of interns, postgraduates and faculty members were deficient in important details.
