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The Relationship Between Pharmaceutical Companies and Medical Education

Through a grant by the Open Society Institute, Sherry Brandt-Rauf, J.D., conducted an exploratory study of the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and graduate medical education. Although many medical centers have some type of policy limiting or regulating contacts between residents and drug company representatives, extensive contacts - whether direct or indirect - appear to occur. This study constitutes an effort to chart the topography of such contacts within the three clinical departments (medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics) at three medical centers using interviews with medical students, residents, attendings, and administrators about the nature of their experience with drug company reps.