Abstract
▶ Context. While exposure to and attitudes about drug company interactions with the community have been studied extensively, relatively little is known about the influence of drug companies on medical students. The purpose of this study was to assess medical students' attitudes toward marketing strategies of the pharmaceutical industry. ▶ Methods. A qualitative-quantitative study was conducted. Initially, 60 medical students at the University of Bologna were interviewed in order to define the most important issues to be analysed. In a second phase, 190 medical students completed an anonymous 22-item survey on the degree of bias in pharmaceutical representatives' information, the influence of pharmaceutical representatives on physicians' prescribing habits, the acceptability of specific gifts, and the educational value of pharmaceutical representatives' information. ▶ Results. Our study revealed a lack of information among students on these topics and related ethical issues. Most students were not aware of the possible consequences of the interaction between physicians and pharmaceutical representatives. ▶ Conclusions. Further research should focus on evaluating students' attitudes toward the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, these findings, coupled with the students' desire to learn more about the issue, suggest that an early educational intervention addressing this topic should be provided in medical schools.
Translated title of the contribution | Conflicts of interest between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. A quali-quantitative study to assess medical students' attitudes at the University of Bologna |
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Original language | Italian |
Pages (from-to) | 242-254 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Ricerca e Pratica |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2008 |
Keywords
- Conflict of interest
- Medical education
- Pharmaceutical industry
- Students
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine