Table 8 describes what the educators were aiming to achieve in educating pharmacy and medical students about drug promotion. The most common goals were critical appraisal of promotion, increased use of independent information sources, and improvements in prescribing or dispensing. There were some differences by health profession, with for example more pharmacy than medical respondents aiming to educate students about how to obtain beneficial information from drug promotion. Table 8a provides a breakdown by region.
Table 8: Main objectives
| |
Pharmacy
n=91 |
Medical
n=137 |
Combined
n=228 |
Teach critical appraisal of drug promotion |
71 (78%) |
105 (77%) |
176 (77%) |
Increase students’ use of independent information sources |
71 (78%) |
103 (75%) |
174 (76%) |
Improve prescribing or dispensing behaviour after graduation* |
42 (46%) |
104 (76%) |
146 (64%) |
Expose students to different perspectives* |
60 (66%) |
59 (43%) |
119 (52%) |
Increase students’ ability to extract beneficial information from drug promotion* |
48 (53%) |
50 (37%) |
98 (43%) |
Change students’ attitudes towards drug promotion* |
26 (29%) |
69 (50%) |
95 (42%) |
Improve behaviour related to gifts and sponsorship |
27 (30%) |
61 (45%) |
88 (39%) |
Decrease students’ use of drug promotion* |
10 (11%) |
33 (24%) |
43 (19%) |
Increase students’ use of drug promotion* |
10 (12%) |
5 (4%) |
15 (7%) |
Other |
9 (10%) |
11 (8%) |
20 (9%) |
* responses differed pharmacy vs. medicine, p<.05 chi-square (uncorrected)
Table 8a: Main objectives - by region
| |
Europe
n=92 |
Americas
n=56 |
W. Pacific
n=31 |
Africa
n=20 |
SE Asia
n=20 |
E Medit.
n=9 |
Teach critical appraisal of drug promotion |
76 (83%) |
44 (79%) |
22 (71%) |
15 (75%) |
14 (70%) |
5 (56%) |
Increase students’ use of independent information sources |
70 (76%) |
42 (75%) |
24 (77%) |
16 (80%) |
14 (70%) |
8 (89%) |
Improve prescribing or dispensing after graduation |
62 (67%) |
29 (52%) |
21 (68%) |
15 (75%) |
12 (60%) |
7 (78%) |
Change students’ attitudes towards drug promotion |
44 (48%) |
18 (32%) |
14 (45%) |
8 (40%) |
8 (40%) |
3 (33%) |
Expose students to different perspectives |
43 (47%) |
29 (52%) |
14 (45%) |
12 (60%) |
15 (75%) |
6 (67%) |
Improve behaviour related to gifts and sponsorship |
36 (39%) |
23 (41%) |
13 (42%) |
6 (30%) |
8 (40%) |
2 (22%) |
Increase students’ ability to extract beneficial information from promotion |
35 (38%) |
26 (46%) |
8 (26%) |
11 (55%) |
12 (60%) |
6 (67%) |
Decrease students’ use of drug promotion |
18 (20%) |
8 (14%) |
8 (26%) |
4 (20%) |
3 (15%) |
2 (22%) |
Increase students’ use of promotion |
2 (2%) |
2 (4%) |
4 (13%) |
1 (5%) |
3 (15%) |
3 (33%) |
Other |
4 (4%) |
8 (14%) |
4 (13%) |
1 (5%) |
1 (5%) |
2 (22%) |
As shown in the Table 8b below, goals were similar among those devoting less or more time to education. Those spending 10 or more hours were more likely to state that they wished to expose students to different perspectives.
Table 8b: Main objectives - by total educational time*
| |
1/2 day or less
(n=69) |
Four to nine hours
(n=66) |
10 or more hours
(n=89) |
To increase students’ use of independent information sources |
49 (71%) |
45 (68%) |
76 (84%) |
To teach critical appraisal of drug promotion |
48 (70%) |
54 (81%) |
71 (80%) |
To expose students to different perspectives* |
28 (41%) |
32 (49%) |
59 (66%) |
To improve prescribing or dispensing behaviour after graduation |
43 (62%) |
43 (65%) |
57 (64%) |
To increase students’ ability to extract beneficial information from drug promotion |
26 (38%) |
27 (41%) |
45 (51%) |
To change students’ attitudes towards drug promotion |
28 (41%) |
28 (42%) |
37 (42%) |
To improve behaviour related to gifts and sponsorship |
26 (38%) |
27 (41%) |
34 (38%) |
To decrease students’ use of drug promotion |
15 (22%) |
12 (18%) |
14 (16%) |
To increase students’ use of drug promotion |
3 (4%) |
3 (5%) |
9 (10%) |
Other |
8 (11%) |
5 (8%) |
7 (8%) |
* values missing in 4 cases
Table 8c: If they marked ‘other’, what was it?
Africa |
Medical |
Issues relating to dispensing and regulations with regards promotions |
Americas |
Pharmacy |
To understand the relationship between increases in spending on promotion associated with the increase in total pharmaceutical expenditures
To raise awareness of first year students of the impact of DTCA on the public and healthcare systems
Provide a thorough description of pharmaceutical marketing efforts in the US and how that may impact them on a professional level.
Enterarle del mal uso que se hace de las técnicas de mercadeo para inducir al uso irracional de medicamentos y con ello a la profesión farmacéutica. |
Medical |
To have students understand and manage potential conflicts of interest
Teach about ethical and professional behaviours
I am trying to open their eyes so they can see for themselves and will be more sceptical in future. I think a more comprehensive set of goals would be desirable but curriculum might not allow time for it.
Hacerle ver a educandos la posible relación entre uso irracional medicamento y promoción irracional de estos. Enfocar que industria en muchas ocasiones persigue medicalizacion de sociedad y medicamento como bien de consumo y no como derecho primordial
Encourage habits based on critical thinking |
South-East Asia |
Pharmacy |
Related to departments, pharmacy students are taught on both, pro and con |
Medical |
Rational prescribing and rational therapy |
Europe |
Pharmacy |
To inform students of drug promotion
Apprendre a concevoir et mettre en oeuvre un marketing “éthique” |
Medical |
To make them understand the market dynamics in the field
To inform students about conflicts of interest: pharmaceutical company plus shareholders versus public health, society, stakeholders |
Western Pacific |
Pharmacy |
Basic level knowledge on drug promotion |
Medical |
To make students aware of the influence of promotion on prescribing behaviour, and to provide an alternative framework for developing the personal formularies
Costs of new and old drugs versus benefits
Reduce overconfidence |
Eastern Mediterranean |
Pharmacy |
To draw attention towards possible counterfeit & substandard pharmaceutical products that are entering into the market and the promotion for their distribution, prescribing, dispensing and use by both the professionals and the public. Improve the communications skills of students |
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