CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Events

In the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bologna, we are setting up some awareness-raising activities.

Last spring we organized three conferences about different aspects of conflict of interest targeted to the students, and a final one involving all relevant local institutions (e.g. Dean of the Medical Faculty, President of the regional Medical Council, Director of the University Hospital etc.) targeted more to researchers and health professionals.

Following this event, that raised quite a lot of attention (even more than expected), last November we organized a conference that involved a lot of participants from all over Italy. The aim was to develop a strategy to “force” the University to acknowledge the issue, in order to find then together ways to face it appropriately.

We’re now organizing a learning package that will be proposed to all medical students in March 2010, as optional course.  This is the programme of the course.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST BETWEEN PHYSICIANS AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES

March 3^rd 2010, 6-8 p.m.

Conflict of interest: etiopathogenesis and critical epidemiology

Part 1: pharmaceutical promotion and disease mongering

March 4^th 2010, 6-8 p.m.

Conflict of interest: etiopathogenesis and critical epidemiology

Part 2: research, medical literature, regulatory agencies

March 9^th 2010, 5-8 p.m.

Communicating drug information to physicians

(interactive lesson)

March 11^th 2010, 6-8 p.m.

Conflict of interest: experimental therapy

(interactive lesson)