Dataset Information

Medical, pharmacy and nursing students in the Baltic countries: interactions with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Interactions between pharmaceutical and medical device industries and students can lead to commercial influences on educational messages, with a potential to bias future treatment choice. This is the first study in the Baltic countries describing exposure and attitudes of medical, pharmacy and nursing students towards cooperation with industry.

Methods

A cross-sectional on-line survey of current medical, pharmacy and nursing students (n?=?918) in three Baltic countries was carried out.

Results

We found that most students participate in events organized or sponsored by industry and accept a range of gifts and benefits. Students in the Baltic countries consider cooperation with industry important; at the same time, most do not feel that they have sufficient training on how to ethically interact with pharmaceutical and medical device companies and believe that these interactions can influence their prescribing or dispensing patterns. There is a tendency to rationalize cooperation with industry by referring to the current economic situation and patient benefits. Pharmacy students have higher rates of participation and they accept gifts and other benefits more often than nursing or medical students; therefore, they are likely to be more vulnerable to potential industry influence.

Conclusions

The findings highlight the need to include topics on ethics and conflicts of interests in cooperation with industry in curriculum of health care students in Baltic countries. Without proper training, students continue to be at risk to industry influence and may develop habits for their further practice differing from evidence-based practice in prescribing and dispensing of medicines, as well as use of medical devices.

SUBMITTER: Salmane-Kulikovska I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7137495 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Medical, pharmacy and nursing students in the Baltic countries: interactions with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Salmane-Kulikovska Ieva I Poplavska Elita E Mezinska Signe S Dumpe Vita V Dauvarte Helena H Lazdina Lina L Marchockij Aleksandr A Varzinskas Karolis K Mintzes Barbara J BJ

BMC medical education 20200406 1

<h4>Background</h4>Interactions between pharmaceutical and medical device industries and students can lead to commercial influences on educational messages, with a potential to bias future treatment choice. This is the first study in the Baltic countries describing exposure and attitudes of medical, pharmacy and nursing students towards cooperation with industry.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross-sectional on-line survey of current medical, pharmacy and nursing students (n = 918) in three Baltic countries ...[more]

PMID: 32252743

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Project description:ObjectivesIn recent years, the involvement of pharmacy technicians in medication reconciliation has increasingly been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the implications on professional roles and collaboration when a best possible medication history (BPMH) at admission is obtained by pharmacy technicians.DesignQualitative study with semistructured interviews. Data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis approach.SettingInternal medicine units in two mid-sized Swiss hospitals.Participants21 staff members working at the two sites (6 pharmacy technicians, 2 pharmacists, 6 nurses, 5 physician residents and 2 senior physicians).ResultsPharmacy technicians generally appreciated their new tasks in obtaining a BPMH. However, they also experienced challenges associated with their new role. Interviewees reported unease with direct patient interaction and challenges with integrating the new BPMH tasks into their regular daily duties. We found that pharmacists played a key role in the BPMH process, since they act as coaches for pharmacy technicians, transmit information to the physicians and reconcile preadmission medication lists with admission orders. Physicians stated that they benefitted from the delegation of administrative tasks to pharmacy technicians. Regarding the interprofessional collaboration, we found that pharmacy technicians in the study acted on a preliminary administrative level and did not become part of the larger treatment team. There was no direct interaction between pharmacy technicians and physicians, but rather, the supervising pharmacists acted as intermediaries.ConclusionThe tasks assumed by pharmacy technicians need to be clearly defined and fully integrated into existing processes. Engaging pharmacy technicians may generate new patient safety risks and inefficiencies due to process fragmentation. Communication and information flow at the interfaces between professional groups therefore need to be well organised. More research is needed to understand if and under which circumstances such a model can be efficient and contribute to improving medication safety.

Dataset Information

Medical, pharmacy and nursing students in the Baltic countries: interactions with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Medical, pharmacy and nursing students in the Baltic countries: interactions with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

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