Published 5 January 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.a3179
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:a3179

News

Stepping into the therapeutics void

¹ London

As the number of therapeutics departments in medical schools falls, Rebecca Coombes hears how the drug industry is stepping into the breach

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

Drug company staff are providing direct teaching to UK undergraduate medical students, a model that the industry hopes can be developed to forge valuable links with trainee doctors.

The move comes as many medical schools are moving investment away from clinical pharmacology to concentrate on research.

Pfizer has a contract to deliver a module to undergraduates at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, a new school that does not have a clinical pharmacology department. Pfizer does not charge for its services, and students travel to the company’s headquarters in Walton Oaks, Surrey, for a series of seminars with staff.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is also delivering talks to undergraduates at several medical schools. Richard Tiner, its medical director, said he was in talks with senior lecturers, including at the University of Leeds School of Medicine, to provide general talks on the industry, drug development, and adverse drug . . . [Full text of this article]

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