The AMA Committee on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) released recommendations that physicians, universities and medical societies must not accept commercial support of educational activities. Industry Support of Professional Education in Medicine. These recomendations seem to have ignore significant constituencies at the AMA.
Their recomendations are as follows:
(1) Individual physicians and institutions of medicine, such as medical schools, teaching hospitals, and professional organizations (including state and medical specialty societies) must not accept industry funding to support professional education activities. Examples of such activities include, but are not limited to, industry funding for:
(a) Residency positions and clinical fellowships;
(b) Didactic educational programs, such as live or web-based continuing medical education activities:
(c) Physician speakers’ bureaus; and
(d) Travel, lodging, and amenities for participants of clinically relevant educational programming.
(2) One exception to no industry support of professional education is when new diagnostic or therapeutic devices and techniques are introduced. Given the requirement for technical training on how to use new devices, industry representatives may have to play an educational role because they could be the only available teachers. But once expertise in the use of previously new devices has developed within the professional community, continuing industry involvement in educating practitioners is no longer warranted. Technical assistance or support that industry representatives may provide physicians in the context of patient care (e.g., helping a surgeon in the operating room select the appropriately sized prosthesis components) is not considered professional education and is not ethically inappropriate.
(3) Medical schools and teaching hospitals are learning environments for future physicians at a critical, formative phase in their careers. These institutions have special responsibilities to create and foster learning and work environments that instill professional values, norms, and expectations. They must limit, to the greatest extent possible, industry marketing and promotional activities on their campuses. Examples of such activities include, but are not limited to:
(a) Free food and other industry gifts for trainees and faculty, and
(b) Detailing visits by industry representatives.
Medical schools and teaching hospitals have a further responsibility to educate trainees about how to interact with industry and their representatives, especially if and when trainees choose to engage industry in varying capacities after residency and fellowship training.
(4) The medical profession must work together to:
(a) Identify the most effective modes of instruction and evaluation for physician learners, then;
(b) More efficiently develop and disseminate educational programming that serves the educational needs of all physicians, especially for those who have difficulty accessing continuing medical education (such as those who practice in rural areas); and
(c) Obtain more noncommercial funding of professional education activities.
It is unfortunate that the members of CEJA have elected to completely shut down all arelationships with industry, and failed to see the value of such relationships in patient care.
This recomendation will be voted on at the upcomming AMA meeting June 15-18th in Chicago. According to knowledgeable sources, CEJA recommendations are regularly rejected or sent back for more work.
Let’s hope the AMA delegates recognize the value of commercial support in helping to providing quality education to their members. And soundly rejects such a measure.