§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government's policy is on the training of medical undergraduates in prescribing practices for antibiotics; and if he will make a statement. [79698]
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§ Mr. HuttonIndividual university medical schools determine their own undergraduate medical curriculum in the light of recommendations from the General Medical Council's education committee, which has the statutory responsibility to determine the extent and knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications in the United Kingdom.
The education committee's most recent recommendations on undergraduate medical education are contained in Tomorrow's Doctors which was published in July 2002. It states that graduates must know about and understand the effective and safe use of medicines as a basis for prescribing. This includes side effects, harmful interactions, antibiotic resistance and genetic indicators of the appropriateness of drugs.