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Healthy Skepticism Library item: 12852

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

 

Publication type: Journal Article

Tillmanns RW, Ringwelski A, Kretschmann J, Spangler LD, Curry RH.
The profession of medicine: a joint US-German collaborative project in medical education.
Med Teach 2007 Nov; 29:(9):e269-75
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content?content=10.1080/01421590701551706


Abstract:

BACKGROUND: International collaborations between medical institutions occur frequently in research and clinical training, but less often in undergraduate medical education. Collaborative programs in psychosocial, ethical and cultural topics are rare. “The Profession of Medicine”, an elective undergraduate course based on the “Patient, Physician and Society” curriculum at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, USA, was introduced in 2005 at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, in order to provide students with a learning opportunity in this field and to introduce an international context to student education. METHODS: The five-day course is offered to preclinical medical students twice a year and includes topics such as cultural diversity, end of life issues, mistakes in medicine, vulnerable populations, and interactions with the pharmaceutical industry. The course language is English, in a format consisting of both plenary and small group sessions. To date, one-fifth of the instructors have been from the U.S. institution. Educational methods include small group discussions, presentations by guest speakers, movie and video clips, role plays, and reading and writing assignments. RESULTS: The participants have evaluated the course very favourably, with average scores ranging from 1.2 to 1.5 (1 = best/agree the most and 5 = worst/agree the least). Pre- and post-course self-assessment with regard to knowledge, interest and professional attitude revealed a statistically significant increase for all course topics. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, the integration of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine’s “Patient, Physician and Society” course concept into the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has been an effective method to develop students’ professional skills and to stimulate international educational collaboration.

Keywords:
Berlin Chicago Consumer Satisfaction Cultural Diversity Drug Industry Education, Medical, Undergraduate/methods* Education, Medical, Undergraduate/organization & administration Education, Medical, Undergraduate/trends Female Germany Humans Interinstitutional Relations International Cooperation Male Medical Errors Models, Educational Physician's Role* Physician-Patient Relations Program Evaluation Questionnaires Schools, Medical/organization & administration* Sociology, Medical/education* Students, Medical/psychology* Terminal Care United States Vulnerable Populations

 

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Cases of wilful misrepresentation are a rarity in medical advertising. For every advertisement in which nonexistent doctors are called on to testify or deliberately irrelevant references are bunched up in [fine print], you will find a hundred or more whose greatest offenses are unquestioning enthusiasm and the skill to communicate it.

The best defence the physician can muster against this kind of advertising is a healthy skepticism and a willingness, not always apparent in the past, to do his homework. He must cultivate a flair for spotting the logical loophole, the invalid clinical trial, the unreliable or meaningless testimonial, the unneeded improvement and the unlikely claim. Above all, he must develop greater resistance to the lure of the fashionable and the new.
- Pierre R. Garai (advertising executive) 1963