Kontakt mit Pharmaunternehmen - Erfahrungen und Einstellungen von Medizinstudierenden

Abstract

Objective: Early contact of medical students with pharmaceutical promotion is paving the way for future doctor pharmaceutical industry relationships. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and places of contact of German medical students to pharmaceutical promotion as well as to examine their attitudes toward pharmaceutical promotional activities. Methods: This cross sectional survey was based on a self-developed questionnaire. It was pilot tested and distributed to 1287 clinical students at the Medical School of Göttingen in 2010. A 4-point Likert scale was used to assess the attitudes toward different statements regarding pharmaceutical promotion. Frequency measurements and between-group statistical comparisons using Chi-Square respectively Fisher-exact-tests were performed. Results: 694 students (416 female and 278 male, Mean age 25 years (SD± 2.5)) returned a complete questionnaire (response rate 54%). 44% of the students reported direct contact with pharmaceutical sales representatives. Contact increased with each academic year (p < 0.0001). About half of the students (60%) were contacted during their elective clerkship in one of the teaching hospitals. 80% of the students had accepted at least one small promotional gift. Almost all students (93%) agreed with the statement promotional gifts to be a strategy to early ingrain brands in the mind of doctors and 43% agreed that accepting promotional gifts influences prescribing behavior in general. 85% of the students considered themselves immune to the influence of promotional gifts. However 38% of the students who stated to be immune to promotional influence assumed their peers to be susceptible (p < 0.0001). The majority of students (90%) reported that dealing with pharmaceutical promotional activity was never addressed during lectures. 67% of the students did not feel well prepared for possible interactions with the pharmaceutical industry. 21% of the students agreed to prohibit contact between medical students and the pharmaceutical industry. Conclusions: German medical students get early and frequent in contact with pharmaceutical promotion. There is little awareness for associated conflicts of interests and ethical implications. Medical schools need to regulate contact and prepare students to understand pharmaceutical marketing strategies and related ethical problems. This should be incorporated in the curriculum and effectiveness of educational interventions needs to be assessed.