Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16810
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
 
Publication type: Report
Evidence and Recommendations for a Model PharmFree Curriculum
PharmFree 2009
http://www.pharmfree.org/tools/resources_documents/files/ModelPharmFreeCurriculum_Final.pdf
Abstract:
Executive Summary
Since 2002, AMSA’s PharmFree Campaign has encouraged a relationship between physicians and
the pharmaceutical and device industries that prioritizes patient care. In recent years, evidence has
mounted demonstrating the negative influence that industry sometimes exerts on the medical
practice, spurring calls for reform by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the American Association
of Medical Colleges (AAMC). Both institutions issued reports that identified the need to change the
way that physicians interact with industry, including the education that physicians in training
receive.
Today, physicians interact with the pharmaceutical and device industries on a daily basis, yet they
receive little education on how to appropriately manage these relationships. Building from the
IOM and AAMC reports, AMSA calls on medical schools to implement curricula that prepare
students to interact with industry in a way that protects individual patients, promotes public
health, and preserves the public trust in medicine. AMSA’s Model PharmFree Curriculum aims to
provide students with the knowledge and analytical skills necessary to:
1) Understand the nature of conflicts of interest and how they pertain to the practice of
medicine;
2) Recognize how industry can impact clinical care and develop strategies to mitigate the
negative influences; and
3) Properly manage industry relations to maximize patient and societal benefit.
“Evidence and Recommendations for a Model PharmFree Curriculum†is guide for students, faculty
and administrators looking to incorporate a Model PharmFree Curriculum into existing curricula.
This guide discusses:
ï‚· Five curricular competencies necessary for meeting the objectives of the Model PharmFree
Curriculum described above (page 4).
ï‚· Strategies for teaching about conflict of interest, including an overview of literature on
effective methods of teaching and instruction techniques that have been employed at
medical schools throughout the world. AMSA recommends a variety of interactive
methods of instruction to engage even skeptical students (page 8).
ï‚· Involvement of industry in education about conflict of interest. AMSA believes that the
risks of involving industry in the education process outweigh the benefits, thus industry
participation is strongly discouraged (page 14).
ï‚· Management of conflict of interest in education, including disclosure and prohibition of
conflicts. AMSA recommends prohibiting conflict of interest in preclinical courses and
disclosure for all physicians involved with instruction on the wards (page 15).