Access to the scientific literature — a difficult balance

This is an issue in which we are all interested … Open Access to the literature. Have a look at this article from the April 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine:

Frank, M. Access to the scientific literature — a difficult balance. New Engl J Med April 13 2006; 354:1552-1555.

During the past decade, scientific publications have increasingly become available on the Internet, where they can be used by far more readers than print journals have ever reached. In The Access Principle, John Willinsky argues that since the knowledge conveyed in these publications is a public good, access to it should be broadened as far as possible. Willinsky, the principal investigator of the Public Knowledge Project at the University of British Columbia, is deeply involved in efforts to use technology to improve the professional and public value of research. Publishers of open-access online journals rely on open-source software that this project has developed, which makes it economically viable for them to comply with standards such as those set by the Open Archives Initiative for harvesting and searching indexed items from journals and databases.
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Current status of medical grand rounds in departments of medicine at US medical schools

From the March 2006 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings: 

Mueller PS, Segovis CM, Litin SC, Habermann TM, Parrino TA. Current status of medical grand rounds in departments of medicine at US medical schools. Mayo Clin Proc 2006;81:313-321.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the status of medical grand rounds (MGR) as an educational endeavor.
METHODS: A survey of 133 departments of medicine at US medical schools was performed from September 2003 to March 2004; the results were compared with those of a previous (1988) survey.
RESULTS: Ninety-nine departments (74%) responded to the survey; all 99 conducted MGR. Providing updates in diagnosis, treatment, and medical research, educating house staff and faculty, and promoting collegiality were the most important objectives of MGR. Regarding objectives, responses to the current survey differed significantly from the responses to the 1988 survey for providing updates in medical research (P=.047), providing continuing medical education credit (P<.001), educating house staff (P=.048), and educating faculty (P<.001); the differences were primarily due to higher proportions of current survey respondents rating these objectives as "quite" or "very" important. The most common format was the didactic lecture. Case presentations were uncommonly used, and patients were rarely present. Only 44% of departments used educational needs assessments, and only 13% assessed knowledge gained by attendees. Feedback was irregularly provided to presenters. Most departments (64%) relied on industry to pay for MGR. Lack of presenter-attendee interaction and conflicting meetings were cited as Important challenges. Nevertheless, most (62%) of the current survey respondents thought the quality of MGR had increased.
CONCLUSIONS: Departments of medicine regard MGR as an important educational and social endeavor. However, most departments use suboptimal teaching, planning, and evaluation methods, and many rely on industry to pay for MGR. Addressing these concerns and other challenges may enhance the value of MGR.

PubMed Record     Related Articles      Journal Record     

A Collection of Articles on Disease Mongering in PLoS Medicine

 Here is a really interesting collection of articles from PLoS Medicine, one of the Open Access journals from the Public Library of Science (PLoS). These articles examine “corporate sponsored creation of disease”. My thanks to Lois Colburn for the pointer.

A Collection of Articles on Disease Mongering  in PLoS Medicine

The Fight against Disease Mongering: Generating Knowledge for Action
Ray Moynihan, David Henry   Read Essay

Bigger and Better: How Pfizer Redefined Erectile Dysfunction
Joel Lexchin  Read Essay

Medicine Goes to School: Teachers as Sickness Brokers for ADHD
Christine B. Phillips  Read Essay

Female Sexual Dysfunction: A Case Study of Disease Mongering and Activist Resistance
Leonore Tiefer  Read Essay

The Latest Mania: Selling Bipolar Disorder
David Healy  Read Essay

Pharmaceutical Marketing and the Invention of the Medical Consumer
Kalman Applbaum  Read Essay

Combating Disease Mongering: Daunting but Nonetheless Essential
Iona Heath  Read Essay

Giving Legs to Restless Legs: A Case Study of How the Media Helps Make People Sick
Steven Woloshin, Lisa M. Schwartz  Read Policy Forum

Cholinesterase Inhibitors: Drugs Looking for a Disease?
Marina Maggini, Nicola Vanacore, Roberto Raschetti  Read Policy Fourm

Disease Mongering in Drug Promotion: Do Governments Have a Regulatory Role?
Barbara Mintzes  Read Policy Forum

Awareness and Attitudes about Disease Mongering among Medical and Pharmaceutical Students
C. Jairaj Kumar, Abhizith Deoker, Ashwini Kumar, et al.  Read Correspondence

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