PA sessions were shown to be an easy and a useful method of both evaluating and reinforcing prescribing skills gained though problem-based RP education.

The use of generic drugs has increased significantly in recent years. Since generic drugs are available at a lower cost, they provide an opportunity for savings in drug expenditure. Thus, use of generic drugs is encouraged especially in developing countries. There are only a few studies concerning the perceptions and attitudes of the healthcare providers and patients towards generic drug use.MethodsThe present study was conducted by a face to face questionnaire in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul in April 2010. From randomly chosen respondents, 68 pharmacists, 56 prescribers and 101 patients consented to participate in the study.ResultsThirty one and 32 % of the pharmacists and prescribers, respectively, expressed that they believed that the generics did not differ from the original drugs, whereas only 24% of the patients believed so. Forty percent of the pharmacists and 82% of the prescribers told that they were unsure about the bioequivalence of the generics. Ten percent of the patients claimed that they immediately accept generic substitution by the pharmacist, while 26% accepted it if it was substituted by the prescriber. Cost was the most important factor taken into consideration about generic substitution (92% for prescribers; 83% for patients and 82% for pharmacists). ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated that healthcare providers as well as the drug consumers have insufficient knowledge about generic drugs. Therefore, they should be better educated with respect to generic substitution.

It appears that patients, particularly who are poorly educated, males, and who received a first prescription know little about their prescribed drugs. These results suggest that patients' education about drugs is an important issue regarding rational drug use which deserves urgent improvement.

This study showed that dentists prescribed antibiotics in an arbitrary and mostly unnecessary manner. In general, their antibiotic choices for examined diagnoses could be regarded as irrational. These results indicate the urgent need for improvement of rational antibiotic prescribing habits of dentists.

While our findings showed that a substantial number of participants still had unused drugs at home and disposed of them inappropriately, it is understood that they started to exhibit more favorable behaviors in recent years.

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Ş Ş AimsThe impact of a short postgraduate course on rational pharmacotherapy planning behaviour of general practitioners (GP) was investigated via a face-to-face interview with 25 GPs working at health centres in Istanbul. MethodsGPs were randomly allocated to control and intervention g roups. Intervention group attended a 3-day-training program preceded and followed by a written exam to plan treatment for simulated cases with a selected indication. The participants' therapeutic competence was also tested at the post-test for an unexposed indication to show the transfer effect of the course. In addition, patients treated by these GP's were interviewed and the prescriptions were analysed regarding rational use of drugs (RUD) principles at the baseline, 2 weeks and 4 months after the course. ResultsAt the baseline there was not any significant difference between the control and intervention groups in terms of irrational prescribing habits. The questionnaires revealed that the GPs were not applying RUD rules in making their treatment plans and they were not educating their patients efficiently. Training produced a significant improvement in prescribing habits of the intervention group, which was preserved for 4 months after the course. However, very low scores of the pretest indicate the urgent necessity for solutions. ConclusionsTraining medical doctors on RUD not only at the under-but also at the postgraduate level deserves attention and should be considered by all sides of the problem including academia, health authorities and medical associations.