Medical students' attitudes toward pharmaceutical marketing: possibilities for change.
BACKGROUND
Concerns have been expressed about physicians' acceptance of gifts from pharmaceutical companies, but few studies have examined or attempted to change medical students' attitudes about accepting such gifts.


METHODS
We used a questionnaire survey to measure attitudes about accepting such gifts. We then carried out a field experiment to compare changes in second-year medical students' attitudes, seven weeks after a one-hour lecture and discussion about the appropriateness of pharmaceutical gifts, to changes in first-year students who were not exposed to the program.


RESULTS
Following the intervention, second-year students became less accepting of these marketing practices; first-year students showed no significant change. The difference between the groups after the intervention was statistically significant (P < .0001).


CONCLUSIONS
If medical students' attitudes about accepting gifts from pharmaceutical companies need to be changed, this study suggests that the process may be fostered with little investment of curricular time.
Vinson
D C
DC
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia.
McCandless
B
B
Hosokawa
M C
MC
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003132:Commerce; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires