The Postgraduate Medical School of the
University of Surrey, as part of its Master of
Science programmes, offers eight core modules
(of the 12 needed for the MSc) as covering the
syllabus for the Diploma in Pharmaceutical
Medicine. These are 3-day modules, which are
part of the full 15–18-month cycle. They comprise
192 face-to-face teaching hours and may be taken
as part of the MSc programme or separately.
The University of Surrey offers a taught Master
of Science programme in Pharmaceutical
Medicine which involves 12 modules, including
eight core and four selected from a number of
options. The MSc is gained following satisfactory
completion of the module assignments and a 25
000-word dissertation in an area of pharmaceutical
medicine.
In 2002, pharmaceutical medicine became a
listed medical speciality in the United Kingdom,
and the specialist training programme was estab-
lished to become the basis of accredited education
and training in pharmaceutical medicine for phy-
sicians. This is a competency-based in-work pro-
gramme over four years which incorporates the
Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine as the speci-
ality knowledge base and six practical modules –
medicines regulation, clinical pharmacology, sta-
tistics and data management, clinical development,
healthcare marketplace and drug safety surveil-
lance. A generic module provides interpersonal
and management skills and working to the princi-
ples of Good Pharmaceutical Medical Practice,
ensuring that pharmaceutical physicians practise
to high standards of competency, care and conduct
in their work, common to the ethics and profes-
sionalism of all doctors.
The supervised in-work programme is comple-
mented by module- and topic-based courses. Pro-
gress and achievement is assured through in-work
and course-based assessments, regular educa-
tional and performance appraisal and an annual
independent evaluation, the Record of In-
Training Assessment (RITA), by the RCPs and
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. The
outcome is the Certificate of Completion of
Training, a recognised European credential of
specialist training common to all medical speci-
alities.
SwitzerlandPharmaceutical medicine is a recognised medical
specialitysince1999bytheFMH,theSwissMedical
Regulatory body. The Swiss Association for Phar-
maceutical Physicians (SwAPP) offers, through the
European Center of Pharmaceutical Medicine
(ECPM) Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine, a
postgraduate qualification of theoretical and practi-
cal training in pharmaceutical medicine. To qualify,
physicians must have full membership of SwAPP
and provide documentary evidence of five years
supervised post-graduate training, two years of
which must be in relevant professional activity and
three years in pharmaceutical medicine, including
two years in clinical development and one year in
drug safety, medical-scientific information and
registration.
The committee for postgraduate training
(KWFB) is responsible for the design of the train-
ing programme and approval of training courses
and centres. Training centres are medical depart-
ments in pharmaceutical companies, clinical
research institutes and hospitals, official institu-
tions and development departments in clinical
research organizations.
Theoretical training comprises 360 hours. The
diploma examination for physicians comprises
written papers, MCQs and oral. The diploma
is recognized by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical
Medicine as equivalent to that in the United
Kingdom.BelgiumThe Free University of Brussels (ULB) has
offered the Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine
since 1992 in conjunction with ABEMEP, the
national association of pharmaceutical physicians.
This is a non-residential course consisting of eight
modules. All modules are taught each year, but
students can spread their training over 1–3 years.
Each of the modules takes one full week every
month between November and June, leading to
280 hours of teaching.
Oral and written examinations are organized at
least once a year; it is not required to follow the2.4 EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICINE 21