Survey of clinical pharmacology programs in U.S. and Canadian medical schools

In this paper the authors report the results of a survey carried out by the Association for Medical School Pharmacology for the purpose of identifying and assessing the status of developing clinical pharmacology programs in medical schools in the United States and Canada. A questionnaire was mailed to 110 U.S. and 16 Canadian medical schools. Eighty-one schools in the United States and nine Canadian schools responded to the survey. There were 47 programs in clinical pharmacology in the United States and Canada which had an identifiable head of clinical pharmacology and three known programs which did not respond (total 50). The methods used in teaching clinical pharmacology involved, for the most part, lectures, clerkships, clinical rounds, and consultations. The major recommendations resulting from this survey are to continue a vigorous approach in the training of more clinical pharmacologists to carry out effective teaching, service, and research programs in clinical pharmacology in medical centers; to improve the service activities related to consultation on drugs; and to continue research on new and established drugs.