title: Pharmacovigilance Skills, Knowledge and Attitudes in our Future Doctors - A Nationwide Study in the Netherlands.
abstract: Pharmacovigilance centres monitor the safety of drugs, based on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reported by doctors, pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies. However, the under-reporting of ADRs remains a major problem. Our aim was to investigate preparedness of future doctors for their role in pharmacovigilance, by assessing their pharmacovigilance awareness, skills and knowledge. The study was a nationwide e-survey among medical students (third to sixth year) of all eight medical schools in the Netherlands. The survey consisted of questions regarding pharmacovigilance awareness, skills and knowledge. Overall, 874 students provided informed consent and participated (response 12%). Almost all students (96%) intended to report serious ADRs in their future practice. Almost half (44%) of the students did not know where to report an ADR, and 78% did not know which items were necessary for a good-quality ADR report. While more than 78% of the students agreed that pharmacovigilance is an important topic in their medical education, only 26% found that their current curriculum covered pharmacovigilance adequately. Although ADR reporting is considered relevant and important among future doctors, many do not know where and what to report. This is highly undesirable and should have consequences for pharmacotherapy teaching.
authors.affiliation: Working Group Research in Education of the Dutch Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy (NVKF&B), Utrecht, the Netherlands.|Department of Internal Medicine, Section Pharmacotherapy, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|RECIPE (Research & Expertise Center In Pharmacotherapy Education), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schutte
authors.affiliation: Working Group Research in Education of the Dutch Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy (NVKF&B), Utrecht, the Netherlands.|Department of Internal Medicine, Section Pharmacotherapy, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|RECIPE (Research & Expertise Center In Pharmacotherapy Education), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tichelaar
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section Pharmacotherapy, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michael O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Reumerman
authors.affiliation: The Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb, den Bosch, the Netherlands.|Department of Pharmacy, Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutical Care, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.|WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmacovigilance in Education, den Bosch, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rike
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Eekeren
authors.affiliation: Working Group Research in Education of the Dutch Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy (NVKF&B), Utrecht, the Netherlands.|Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Toxicology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.|Centre for Human Drug Research, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rissmann
authors.affiliation: Working Group Research in Education of the Dutch Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy (NVKF&B), Utrecht, the Netherlands.|Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Pharmacology-Toxicology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cornelis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kramers
authors.affiliation: Working Group Research in Education of the Dutch Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy (NVKF&B), Utrecht, the Netherlands.|Department of Internal Medicine, Section Pharmacotherapy, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|RECIPE (Research & Expertise Center In Pharmacotherapy Education), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Milan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Richir
authors.affiliation: The Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb, den Bosch, the Netherlands.|Department of Pharmacy, Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutical Care, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.|WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmacovigilance in Education, den Bosch, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eugène P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: van Puijenbroek
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section Pharmacotherapy, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|RECIPE (Research & Expertise Center In Pharmacotherapy Education), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michiel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van Agtmael
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000453:epidemiology; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D060735:Pharmacovigilance; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires