VCOM Institutional Policy and Procedure Manual

VCOM Policy and Procedure

Policy #U015

7. CONFLICT OF INTEREST CURRICULUM Conflict of interest education is incorporated into the medical student curriculum at VCOM. Content of this education is consistent with the AMSA “model curriculum” standards. These competencies are: • Professionalism and Conflict of Interest • Drug and Device Development • Determining Drug and Device Safety and Efficacy • Marketing and Physician Practice • Continuing Medical Education Specifically, the curriculum covers the above competencies by teaching the drug and device development process including how efficacy and safety are demonstrated and by teaching the effects of industry marketing on physician education and practice and its relationship to medical professionalism. The following lectures cover these core competencies: • The process of how the drugs and devices are tested, approved by the FDA and marketed; • The elements of a proper clinical trial; • The Declaration of Helsinki and how it translates into today’s research and education; • Conflicts of interest in drug and device development; • Conflicts of interest in the use of drugs and devices; • Case studies of aberrant conflicts of interest and drug company errors/omissions; • Marketing to physicians and how to recognize sales propaganda; and • How to keep current on new drug developments and issues (research not marketing). VCOM faculty use the current, and always evolving, controversies on diabetes drugs, statins and others as real world examples. One of the main goals is to train the students to make objective opinions that always take the patient into consideration. Further, faculty involved in teaching these areas email the students regularly when new developments in this arena occur. VCOM has an extensive and comprehensive pharmacology curriculum that touches on the above competencies in our first and second year curricula. These competencies are taught in pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, pharmacodynamics, and drug development/clinical trials lectures. This conflict of interest education is taught to both OMSI and OMSII. VCOM requires all faculty and staff to be aware of and understand what constitutes actual or perceived conflicts of interest, the relationships of a medical college and medical faculty and staff with industry and the bias that can exist when industry interacts with the education process. All new VCOM employees are required to read and understand this policy, and all employees must review this policy annually. All employees and students involved in PHS-funded research must complete specific conflict of interest training prior to beginning research programs. This training is developed and managed by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), which is available to all College faculty, staff and students at VCOM. Information on this training requirement can be found in the VCOM Financial

Conflicts of Interest in Research Policy . 8. EXTENSION OF POLICY TO AFFILIATES

This policy applies to all VCOM personnel. VCOM personnel, whether full-time or part-time, in all settings, must understand and follow this policy. Consequences of non-compliance will be the same as

VCOM Policy on Conflicts of Interest

Page 9 of 11