Pre-graduate and post-graduate education in personalized medicine in the Czech Republic: statistics, analysis and recommendations

From helices to health: undergraduate medical education in genetics and genomics

Rapid advances in genomic technologies combined with drastic reductions in cost and a growing number of clinical genomic tests are transforming medical practice. While enthusiasm about applications of precision medicine is high, the existing clinical genetics workforce is insufficient to meet present demands and will fall increasingly short as the use of genetic and genomic testing becomes more routine. To address this shortage, physicians in all areas of medicine will require genomic literacy. Undergraduate medical students, therefore, need a solid foundation in genetics and genomics so they can apply genomic medicine across a range of specialties. Here, we review the current trends and challenges in undergraduate medical genetics education in North America, highlight innovations and offer recommendations.

Perceptions of students in health and molecular life sciences regarding pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine

BACKGROUND

Increasing evidence is demonstrating that a patient's unique genetic profile can be used to detect the disease's onset, prevent its progression, and optimize its treatment. This led to the increased global efforts to implement personalized medicine (PM) and pharmacogenomics (PG) in clinical practice. Here we investigated the perceptions of students from different universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) towards PG/PM as well as related ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI). This descriptive, cross-sectional study is based on the survey of 559 students from the Faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy, Health Studies, Genetics, and Bioengineering and other study programs.

RESULTS

Our results showed that 50% of students heard about personal genome testing companies and 69% consider having a genetic test done. A majority of students (57%) agreed that PM represents a promising healthcare model, and 40% of students agreed that their study program is well designed for understanding PG/PM. This latter opinion seems to be particularly influenced by the field of study (7.23, CI 1.99-26.2, p = 0.003). Students with this opinion are also more willing to continue their postgraduate education in the PM (OR = 4.68, CI 2.59-8.47, p < 0.001). Furthermore, 45% of students are aware of different ethical aspects of genetic testing, with most of them (46%) being concerned about the patient's privacy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate a positive attitude of biomedical students in Bosnia and Herzegovina towards genetic testing and personalized medicine. Importantly, our results emphasize the key importance of pharmacogenomic education for more efficient translation of precision medicine into clinical practice.

EPMA summit 2014 under the auspices of the presidency of Italy in the EU: professional statements

Over the next 10-20 years, a pessimistic prognosis considers pandemic scenario for type 2 diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative disorders and some types of cancer followed by the economic disaster of healthcare systems in a global scale. Well-recognised deficits of currently provided medical services result from the delayed 'disease care'. Herewith EPMA releases the long-term strategies for the effective promotion of predictive, preventive and personalised medicine (PPPM) considered as the medicine of the future. Under the EPMA-umbrella, an international forum of currently 45 countries is actively contributing to the development and implementation of the innovative PPPM concepts. EPMA is open for collaboration with other leading European and global professional networks relevant for the effective promotion of PPPM in sciences and practical implementation.