Physician attitudes toward industry: a view across the specialties.
OBJECTIVE
To explore attitudes of physicians from all specialties toward gifts from and interactions with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.


METHODS
Anonymous, cross-sectional survey distributed and collected between June 1 and September 1, 2008.


METHODS
Hospitals in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine consortium in the New York, New York, metropolitan area.


METHODS
Faculty and trainee physicians from all clinical departments.


METHODS
Attitudes toward industry interactions and gifts and their appropriateness measured on 4-point Likert scales.


RESULTS
A total of 590 physicians and medical students completed the survey (response rate, 67.0%); 351 (59.5%) were male, 230 (39.0%) were attending physicians, and 131 (23.7%) of 553 (excluding medical students) were from surgical specialties. Attitudes toward industry and gifts were generally positive: 72.2% found sponsored lunches appropriate, whereas 25.4% considered large gifts appropriate. Surgeons, trainees, and those unfamiliar with institutional policies on industry interactions held more positive attitudes than others and were more likely to deem some gifts appropriate, including industry funding of residency programs and, among surgeons, receiving meals, travel expenses, and payments for attending lectures. Nonattending physicians held more positive attitudes toward receiving meals in clinical settings, textbooks, and samples.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians continue to hold positive attitudes toward marketing-oriented activities of the pharmaceutical and device industries. Changes in medical culture and physician education focused on surgeons and trainees may align physician attitudes with current policy trends.
Korenstein
Deborah
D
Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave Levy Place, Campus Box 1087, New York, NY 10029, USA. deborah.korenstein@mssm.edu
Keyhani
Salomeh
S
Ross
Joseph S
JS
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000941:ethics*; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000941:ethics*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery; D037921:Gift Giving / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing / Q000941:ethics; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009519:New York City; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000941:ethics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017749:Total Quality Management