Hey AMSA members, I attended this last year and had a wonderful time.  I highly recommend taking advantage of this great opportunity:

Pharmaceutical Policy Leadership in Medicine Institute

November 30 - December 2, 2012

AMSA National Office

Application Deadline: September 27, 2012

For years, the pharmaceutical and device industry have shared a collaborative relationship with academic medical centers leading to major advances in the research and development of diagnostic and therapeutic treatments. While such relationships have led to significant contributions in the field of medicine, there has also been growing concern amongst patients, politicians, providers and medical students over the real and perceived conflicts of interest that have become commonplace. According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, over 84% of reported industry relationships. Another study from the Pew Prescription Project showed that 69% of patients felt like their doctor was “too influenced” by pharmaceutical companies. 

In order to restore this eroded trust that is at the foundation of the doctor-patient relationship, healthcare professionals including future physicians have been instrumental in ensuring that medical schools and academic medical centers adopt strong standards on industry relationships. Medical students from AMSA’s PharmFree Campaign with the Pew Prescription Project then created the AMSA PharmFree Scorecard in an effort to highlight schools’ strong policies and encourage others with weaker policies to create change to ensure that their students were receiving evidence-based medical education, rather than marketing-based medical education. 

Additionally, based on the recommendations from the American Association of Medical Colleges and the Institute for Medicine, the PharmFree Campaign created a Model Curriculum in order for students to fully understand the consequences of such relationships between industry and medicine. AMSA also offers the key components of this curriculum through a 3-day institute as a way to train undergraduate, graduate, and medical students to become of change in pharmaceutical policy at not only their institutions, but also nationally and internationally. Through expert speaker sessions, participants will learn to use a range of transparency tools and advocacy tactics to strategically design and implement campaigns centered on current pharmaceutical policy issues. Experiences will include talks by FDA policy makers, talks from grant partners at Pew Charitable Trusts, National Physicians Alliance and Community Catalyst, and workshops with student leadership on implementing projects at your medical school. Participants will also receive microgrants to implement these projects at their schools. 

*Apply now and AMSA will cover food, lodging, and tuition costs courtesy of a grant from the State Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program which is funded by the multi-state settlement of consumer fraud claims regarding the marketing of the prescription drug Neurontin.*

Contact me with questions! 

Ted Fagrelius, MS3