Published 14 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a973
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a973

Analysis

Rethinking continuing medical education

¹ Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples 80131, Italy

Drug company funding of continuing medical education may affect doctors’ independence. Alfredo Pisacane argues that it can and should be stopped

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Continuing medical education has become so heavily dependent on support from drug and medical device companies that the ethical underpinnings and the reputation of the medical profession may be compromised. In industrialised countries, drug companies support more than half of continuing medical education activities, and it has been shown that such support can distort the topic selection, embellish the positive elements as well as play down the adverse effects of some interventions, and influence doctors’ prescribing habits.^{1 2 3 4}

To reduce the risk of conflict of interest in continuing medical education, it has been proposed that sponsors should not have any influence over the choice of speakers and scientific contents; moreover, providers and speakers of educational events should provide a full disclosure of the support received. Such disclosure, however, does not protect against the risks of an invisible influence of drug companies on providers, speakers, and participants.⁵

Continuing medical education is compulsory . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Big subjects: education and obesity

Jane Smith
BMJ 2008 337: a1448. [Extract] [Full Text]

End of the free lunch?

Mark Gould
BMJ 2008 337: a1399. [Extract] [Full Text]

Drug company sponsorship of education could be replaced at a fraction of its cost

Ray Moynihan
BMJ 2003 326: 1163. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Quality improvement report: Effect on rates of breast feeding of training for the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

Adriano Cattaneo and Roberto Buzzetti
BMJ 2001 323: 1358-1362. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Adopting newer technologies

N.P. Viswanathan
bmj.com, 15 Aug 2008 [Full text]

Dreaming of new educational models

Alberto E Tozzi
bmj.com, 19 Aug 2008 [Full text]

Main Stake holder's perspective ignored

Seshu B Gosala
bmj.com, 20 Aug 2008 [Full text]

Conferences cannot be omitted

Thomas Krasemann
bmj.com, 20 Aug 2008 [Full text]

For a CME off-market

Maurizio Bonati
bmj.com, 28 Aug 2008 [Full text]

Rethinking continuing medical education- 'The NHS Trusts in UK must do their bit'.

Anthony V B Bathula, et al.
bmj.com, 31 Aug 2008 [Full text]

Provenance of CME

Elizabeth H Hare
bmj.com, 7 Sep 2008 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>