This is the first Delphi consensus study identifying exact conditions that junior doctors must be able to prescribe for. The essential diseases can be used for training in prescribing and assessment of junior doctors' prescribing competence.

The aim of this study was to identify the information about commonly prescribed drugs that junior doctors should know in order to prescribe rationally in daily practice, defined as essential drug knowledge (EDK). A two-round Internet Delphi study was carried out involving general practitioners from one practice cluster, and registrars and consultants from two Dutch academic and eight teaching hospitals. A preliminary list of 377 potential EDK items for three commonly prescribed drugs was assessed on a dichotomous scale; an item was considered EDK if at least 80% consensus was reached. The consensus list of EDK items was discussed by the research team to identify similarities between the three drugs, with a view to forming a list of general EDK items applicable to other commonly prescribed drugs. Sixty experts considered 93 of the 377 items (25%) as EDK. These items were then used to form a list of 10 general EDK items. The list of EDK items identified by primary and secondary care doctors could be used in medical curricula and training programmes and for assessing the prescribing competence of future junior doctors. Further research is needed to evaluate the generalizability of this list for other commonly prescribed drugs.Rational prescribing (i.e. effectively, safely and at low cost) is an essential skill for medical doctors to reduce the frequency of avoidable adverse drugs reactions and prescribing errors [1,2]. Unfortunately, numerous studies have revealed that the prescribing performance of junior doctors is inadequate and that they make many avoidable prescribing errors, resulting in inefficiencies in patient care and even patient harm [1][2][3][4][5]. There is considerable evidence that a major factor contributing to prescribing errors is a lack of basic knowledge of pharmacology and pharmacotherapy among recent graduates [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Thus, improving the pharmacology and pharmacotherapy knowledge of medical students might prevent or reduce the number of these errors in the future [1,6].In order to prescribe adequately, it is important to identify which information about individual drugs should be ready knowledge and which can be looked up (e.g. by using a mobile app or electronic prescribing system). Some studies suggest that medical students should use, and have a thorough knowledge of, a core list of commonly prescribed drugs, such as the essential drug list [17] or the student formulary [18][19][20][21], so that they can prescribe these drugs appropriately, under the supervision of a senior doctor. This knowledge of drug information and prescribing competence should be tested in an examination before graduation. Until now, there has been no clear and robust definition of what graduates should know about commonly prescribed drugs (e.g. doses, contraindications, etc.) to prescribe rationally. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify which information about commonly prescribed drugs junior doctors should have acquired in order to prescribe rationally in dail...

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