Be aware that abnormal test results don’t always alter the management plan – for example, serum transaminases can be raised by up to 3x the upper limit of normal before statins should be discontinued. For example, converting opioid doses is in the palliative care summary, HRT is in the sex hormones summary, and high INR management is in the oral anticoagulants summary. Furthermore, answering questions within the PSA requires more than a critique of information within the BNF; it requires an appraisal of the case history and use of student clinical experience gained in undergraduate training and related to commonly encountered prescribing scenarios at FY1 level. You might also be interested in our Prescribing Safety Assessment Question Bank which contains over 500 prescribing questions.

There will be 2 fluid prescribing questions – learn how much fluid a patient is likely to need for resuscitation, rehydration and maintenance, and which fluids to use. Among the 5 choices of answers, there may be more than one with correct information, but only one contains the information that is most appropriate to tell the patient.All F1 doctors are required to pass the PSA to be awarded a Foundation Year 1 Certificate of Completion (F1CC) at the end of the first year of the foundation programme. Prescribe is an 'e-learning platform to help medical students and others develop a firm grounding in the principles of basic and clinical pharmacology'.

For examples – medication overdoses (poisoning, emergency treatment), hypoglycaemia (hypoglycaemia), reversal of a high INR (oral anticoagulants). F1 doctors for FP 2022 who did not pass the test while at the medical school will be able to sit the test at their Foundation School on 6th September 2022, followed by two further opportunities to retake the PSA in spring 2023. However, the question bank has a limited number of questions and so every question made public is in need of replacement. The prescribing items are marked using an automated system that compares the given answer with a mark scheme containing a number of correct answer(s) and suboptimal answers. MSC Assessment and the British Pharmacological Society are working closely with all medical and foundation schools who have students due to sit the PSA over the coming months.As well as a detailed explanation for each PSA question, our question bank platform will display a relevant topic snippet (if available). Medical schools are responsible for providing further training and support in prescribing for those re-sitting, and they will inform their students of the local re-sit dates. The PSA Assessment Board takes responsibility for overseeing the quality assurance process, which ensures that PSA question items entered into the item bank are fit for the intended purpose and assess the prescribing-related competencies described in the blueprint.

Your school will submit a list of candidates registered to take the PSA no later than four weeks before your test date.

This section can be structured in a variety of ways,testing either on common adverse drug reactions, potential drug interactions or management of adverse reactions.