How to Read a Prescription Pad

When you visit your physician and receive a written prescription for a medication, she'll use either a hard copy or an electronic version of a prescription pad to order the drug. The prescription provides detailed information about the physician and her contact information, as well as specific orders for the drug itself. Because Latin is the root of many medical terms, you'll see a number of abbreviations that stem from Latin words. The abbreviation "PRN," for example, stands for "pro re nata," a Latin term meaning "when circumstances require." The doctor will write PRN for medications that are to be taken when you need them, such as pain relievers for a broken arm.

Things You'll Need

• Hard copy of prescription

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Instructions

The Basics

• 1

  Review the doctor's information. This section of the prescription pad lists your doctor's name, credentials (such as MD), address, telephone number, and medical license number. Your pharmacist will use this information to identify your doctor in an automated database before dispensing your medication.

• 2

  Check the date. Every prescription needs to identify the date on which the doctor ordered the drug.

• 3

  Look for the symbol "RX". This means "prescription" and is used to indicate that the doctor is ordering a specific drug that's not available over the counter, according to ConsumerMedSafety.org, the website of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

The Drug

• 4

  Read the medication name and strength. The drug name may be listed as a generic one, such as rosuvastatin, or as a proprietary name, such as Crestor. After the drug name, the doctor will write the strength to be dispensed, such as 40 milligrams, or mg. The doctor may use other abbreviations for doses, such as mcg for microgram or ml for milliliters.

• 5

  Look for the term "disp." Disp is short for dispense, and tells the pharmacist how many tablets or what volume of liquid medication to include in your prescription.

• 6

  Read the "sig." Sig is short for the Latin word "signa," which means write. The doctor will write how you should take your medication. She may use a number of abbreviations for Latin terms, such as "hs" or "hora somni" for "hour of sleep" to indicate you should take the medicine at bedtime.

• 7

  Look for the indication. The indication section lets the pharmacist know why the doctor is ordering the drug. For example, a sleeping pill may be indicated for insomnia.

• 8

  Identify the number of refills. In the refill section, the doctor will either check a box or write a number to tell how many times you can refill this prescription.

• 9

  Check the substitution section. This is the place where the doctor tells the pharmacist whether she may substitute a generic form of the drug for the brand name written by the physician.