More than half of program directors at internal medicine residency programs accepted various forms of pharma support - food for conferences, educational materials, office supplies, drug samples, and unrestricted educational funds, as well as direct contact with residents (off-site and on-site) - according to a survey in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Of 236 program directors, 56 percent reported accepting support from drugmakers, yet 72 percent said the support is undesirable. Food, in particular, is popular, because it can spur attendance at meetings. Overall, acceptance of industry support was less prevalent among residency programs with a program director who considered support unacceptable and those with higher American Board of Internal Medicine pass rates, although support was more likely to be accepted by programs in the South. By contrast, however, a 1990 survey found 89 percent accepted industry support.

The decline was attributed to the recent scrutiny given industry support, but the researchers expressed concern that a majority of program directors continue to accept backing. “Despite the attention around conflict of interest with pharmaceutical support, we were surprised to find that only 29.2 percent of the responding program directors reported a specific curriculum to instruct residents about interactions with the pharmaceutical industry,” the researchers wrote.

photo courtesy of Jerome Kassirer