Enhancing antifungal stewardship: The educational and healthcare benefits of involving pharmacy students in audits
- Author: mycolabadmin
- 8/19/2025
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Summary
This study involved pharmacy students in reviewing fluconazole prescriptions at two Sydney hospitals to improve antifungal medication use. The researchers found that many fluconazole prescriptions were not being used appropriately, and some patients had dangerous drug interactions. The pharmacy students gained valuable real-world experience while helping the hospitals improve their antifungal stewardship practices.
Background
Antifungal stewardship is important for promoting quality care and tackling drug resistance. Surveys in Australia have found that main barriers to undertaking antifungal stewardship activities include lack of dedicated pharmacist time and insufficient staff expertise in managing invasive fungal disease. Pharmacy students could help fill this gap.
Objective
To perform a clinical audit of fluconazole prescribing and explore whether involvement of pharmacy students in this process was feasible and meaningful from both pharmacy student and health system perspectives.
Results
A total of 145 fluconazole prescriptions were audited with 62.8% assessed as appropriate, 31.7% as inappropriate, and 5.5% not assessable. Potential drug-drug interactions were identified in 17 patients, with three clinically significant. Students had positive experiences contributing to quality use of medicines, with 60% finding the activities enjoyable and 90% reporting enhanced skills in data collection and analysis.
Conclusion
Inappropriate fluconazole use was common. Pharmacy students made a positive contribution to the antifungal audit, promoting good stewardship practices while accessing enhanced learning opportunities. Successful implementation requires proper training, supervision, and clinical support.
- Published in:Medical Mycology,
- Study Type:Retrospective Clinical Audit,
- Source: PMID: 40828582, DOI: 10.1093/mmy/myaf074