Comment Summary

The AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION recently rated American medical schools’ conflict of interest policies with regard to their relationships with the medical industry and gave many schools a failing grade. AMSA says the following on their web site: "It is time to extricate marketing practices from medical education... There is substantial evidence that marketing shapes physician prescribing habits. By eliminating the gifts and the misleading information that pharma reps currently bring into our schools, hospitals and academic medical centers, physicians will be able to better practice evidence-based medicine. And that translates into better care for our patients." What is your opinion on this?
#	Response Date	Other (please specify)
1.	6/11/2008 1:24:00 PM	Medical students should be protected from the influences of the pharmaceutical industry.
2.	6/11/2008 1:27:00 PM	The education of medical students must include this exposure. It should be treated as a learning experience, well supervised.
3.	6/11/2008 1:55:00 PM	Medical education is way too expensive for the average person. If we want more physicians we need to find ways to support their education. I am still paying off medical school loans 20 years after graduating!!!
4.	6/11/2008 2:09:00 PM	what, medical students cannot think on their own and judge when receiving gifts?
5.	6/11/2008 2:15:00 PM	I believe the influence of marketing has a minor effect but in light of the other major forces influencing physician behavior, it is trivial. Evidence based medicine is a myth. It is a noble ideal but the best evidence available is still far short of being compulsive in individual situations
6.	6/11/2008 3:25:00 PM	Pharmaceuticals should not be involved in direct medical school marketing because med students are inexperienced and impressionable.
7.	6/11/2008 3:25:00 PM	Pharmaceuticals should not be involved in direct medical school marketing because med students are inexperienced and impressionable.
8.	6/11/2008 6:00:00 PM	I would hope physicians would be intelligent enough to make informed decisions not based on marketing alone
9.	6/11/2008 6:28:00 PM	I would be shocked to learn that companies actually influence prescribing
10.	6/11/2008 10:44:00 PM	we loved the freebies and I don't think it ever influenced me but it should be transparent
11.	6/12/2008 12:58:00 AM	This thinking tends to be a concern of medical students (and physicians) who are suspect of their own integrity, and are concerned that they themselves "can be bought", by pharmaceutical company support.
12.	6/12/2008 4:37:00 AM	This is BS -- as if politicians and lawyers don't get perks all the time -- if I get a pen once in a while so what?
13.	6/12/2008 1:30:00 PM	I agree in part but the baby should not be thrown out with the bath water
14.	6/23/2008 1:01:00 PM	Medical students may not be aware of the consequences of this kind of policy decision.
15.	6/23/2008 3:00:00 PM	Med students need all the financial help they can get - poverty leads to corruption - not a CME luncheon
16.	6/24/2008 3:02:00 AM	The answer is not all or none. Pharma companies provide valuable education and exposure to new products. The relationship needs to be reformed but not eliminated.