Book excerpt: Learning to prescribe is an essential part of medical training. Due to various high profile serious prescribing errors, the GMC have introduced stricter prescribing standards which medical students must meet in order to graduate. This book helps medical students learn the essentials of safe prescribing practice, and is aimed directly at their needs. It covers all the aspects of prescribing required by the GMC, including principles of prescribing, law and ethics, professional responsibilities, patient communication, at-risk groups, avoiding common errors and what to do when things go wrong. Key features: Directly linked to the prescribing competencies in the GMC′s Tomorrow′s Doctors and Good Practice in Prescribing Medicines Real-life prescribing case studies and scenarios relate the principles to actual practice and placement situations Activities throughout each chapter for testing prescribing knowledge and skills Test questions for the new Prescribing Skills Assessment to help students prepare and be confident that they can pass.