How to Prepare for the Independent Prescriber (IP) Course

Hey everyone! It’s Faheem from MEDLRN. Today I want to discuss a question that many of you have been asking: how do we prepare for the IP course?

If you’ve been thinking about this question, you’re absolutely on the right track. As my mentor Farooq always says to me, “preparation is important.” So let’s break down how you can best prepare for your independent prescriber course.

Breaking It Down Into Three Areas

I want to break this topic down into three crucial areas:

1. Academic preparation (where many people get stuck)
2. Clinical preparation
3. General time management

Let’s dive into each one!

Academic Preparation

The first thing you need to do is look at the course learning outcomes for the independent prescribing course. You need to thoroughly understand what the aim or objective of the course is. What will you be learning from the course?

Many students who undertake the IP course seem to think that once they qualify, they’ll become a clinician – that they’ll transform into some magical, wonderful GP who can manage everything. That’s a big NO! That’s not what happens.

So read the course learning outcomes. Look at what you’ll need to do and what you’ll be able to do at the end of the course.

Let me tell you upfront: if you’re thinking that at the end of this course you’ll be able to diagnose, manage, and treat disease – that’s not what’s going to happen. This course does not teach you that.

What this course actually teaches you is how to demonstrate that you are a competent prescriber. To understand this better, you need to read the RPS (Royal Pharmaceutical Society) framework for independent prescribing. This is a set of standards that you have to be able to evidence or show that you meet.

If you visit the MedLRN website, I’ve written an in-depth article about the RPS framework and how you can demonstrate the various competencies. This would be familiar if you’ve done your pre-reg year, as you would know that during that year you had a set of standards to evidence across. It’s the same concept here.

Academic Skills You Need

This course is taught at either level seven or level six. Don’t worry about the jargon too much, but what you must be able to do is reference properly.

If you can’t reference, do some research and find out how to do Vancouver or Harvard referencing. There are plenty of AI tools that can help, but my thought on AI is that it should be there to make things more efficient, not to replace your mind from thinking. So if you already understand referencing, AI can make your time more efficient. But if you don’t know anything about referencing, learn it properly first so your mind keeps growing.

Next, you need to understand critical reflection. This is all about looking at what’s happened, what the benefits were, and how your practice will change next.

If you’ve seen Harry Potter (I’m a big fan), you’ll remember Dumbledore removing his thoughts and casting them aside. Then he could revisit those thoughts, analyze what happened, and decide what to do next. This is exactly what you’ll be doing as a prescriber – actively thinking about your practice, looking at what’s happened, and considering how to improve.

You’ll also need skills in critical reasoning and critical appraisal. When we’re trying to be critical, we’re essentially deciding which information to trust. You’re questioning: “How can this be true? Why is this true? What’s the evidence?” You’re not taking information on blind faith.

For example, why do we give antibiotics for pneumonia? Why not painkillers or a gel? You need to decide why, examine the evidence, and then critique that evidence. Is there any bias? Was the person who wrote the article working for a big, multinational pharma company?

Resources for Academic Skills

Here are some resources to help you develop these academic skills:

• For referencing: Look at university websites for guides on Vancouver or Harvard referencing.
• For reflection: Search for “becoming a reflective practitioner” and look at models like the Gibbs model or Driscoll’s model of reflection.
• For critical reasoning: Check out the book “ABC of Critical Reasoning.”
• For critical appraisal: Look at the CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) checklist.

Clinical Preparation

The course does not teach you clinical skills – it’s there to test your existing clinical skills. So you need to be prepared in several areas:

1. History taking: You need to be able to take a thorough history. If you can’t do this, you won’t get through the course.
2. Scope of practice: You need to understand your chosen scope of practice inside out. (I’ve done a detailed video on choosing and understanding your scope of practice – check it out on our channel!)
3. Examination skills: Learn how to examine different body systems:
   • Respiratory system
   • Cardiovascular system
   • Musculoskeletal system
   • ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat)
   • Peripheral vascular system
   • Dermatology
   • Abdominal examination

Resources for Clinical Skills

For history taking and examination skills, I recommend getting hold of the Bates textbook. This is an excellent resource that covers both areas comprehensively.

For understanding your scope of practice, visit MedLRN – we’ll help you with that.

General Time Management

This is crucial – you are no longer a full-time student who can dedicate eight hours a day to studying. You’ve got to be consistent, disciplined, and have a timetable in place to support you through your course.

The IP course is all about time management. Many of you will have full-time jobs, families, and various personal commitments. Time keeping and time management are very, very important to your success.

Summary

To prepare effectively for the IP course:

1. Be academically strong – understand the course outcomes, the RPS framework, and develop skills in referencing, reflection, and critical appraisal.
2. Be clinically ready – ensure your history taking, examination skills, and understanding of your scope of practice are solid.
3. Master time management – create a realistic study schedule that works with your other commitments.

I hope you found this guidance useful! Subscribe to our channel, visit us at MEDLRN, and remember – proper preparation prevents poor performance!