of collaborative learning, students would gain a better understanding of their future roles, which would aid interdisciplinary working relationships. What was tried? Selected medical students on a paediatric attachment and final-year pharmacy students were placed in mixed groups of approximately 30 students per group. Over the academic year, we conducted six 3-hour workshops on theoretical and practical aspects of prescribing. Students were split into smaller mixed groups and together worked through realistic prescribing scenarios.A workbook of scenarios and an accompanying slide show were prepared. These resources were developed by the present authors to allow the course to be taught by a variety of instructors, thereby improving its sustainability. The session was run in a teaching room in the medical school by a doctor and a pharmacist.At the end of each session, students were asked to complete a feedback form. We ran two mixed focus groups to allow students to comment on the usefulness of the teaching and resources. What lessons were learned? Both groups of students had little prior teaching on practical prescribing. All of the medical students (n = 43) and 86.6% of the pharmacy students (71/82) found the session relevant. Both sets wanted more prescribing teaching in their courses. The majority of those who did not consider the session relevant found it to be overly geared towards medical students. One of the challenges involved adjusting the curriculum to meet the needs of both student sets.Another difficulty involved the coordination of the teaching staff, students and administrators of two different courses. Numerous logistical difficulties arose. The drive of the authors helped to overcome this to some degree, but the issue creates problems in integrating the course into the curriculum on a long-term basis.Pharmacy students (91.7%) and medical students (94.6%) found it useful to learn in an interdisciplinary group, which represented a new experience for both sets of students. Students had little prior knowledge of one another's roles. Some students revealed prejudices about the other group; some pharmacy students said they perceived doctors as 'being intimidating', and some medical students considered pharmacists to be overly oriented on 'fault-finding'. The students felt the relaxed nature of the session helped to dispel stereotypes and considered it would improve future working relationships.Overall, the students felt the mixed sessions gave them a unique opportunity to work with other disciplines and understand the roles of different health professionals. We were surprised by the extent to which student perceptions were altered by the session. Although there are logistical difficulties, this is a worthwhile endeavour and should be continued and integrated as a formal part of the joint undergraduate curriculum in this area and others.
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