*Please note that applicants to this short course should go via King's Apply (click red 'Apply' button on the right of this page) and select the following programme*:

Pharmaceutical Medicine Non-Award (Part-time): Module code 7BBP0013

This course covers typical issues of ethics that arise in biomedical research and pharmaceutical medicine such as the clinical development of medicines and the commercialisation of medicines. A significant proportion of the time in this 5-day module will be devoted to discussions and workshops.

Course content

This module aims to:

• Enable students to critically assess the ethical principles and frameworks that impact upon the development and marketing of medicines.
• Give students an in depth understanding of the relevance and importance of corporate and public ethics on the development and marketing of medicines.
• Provide an overview of the professional standards, codes and rules impacting the pharmaceutical industry (including GxP).
• Enable students to appreciate the ethical aspects of medicine development and clinical trials (including the role and responsibilities of Ethics Committees).
• Provide the ability to appraise the range of strategies for medicine commercialisation and their ethical consequences.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this module students will be able to:

• Review the concepts of ethics, good practice and risk/benefit in the development and marketing of medicines and how the industry is engaged to protect patients and the public.
• Create multi-national clinical and commercial development programmes that apply patient involvement and operational plans, are ethical and subscribe to GxPs.
• Critically analyse the relevant clinical and non-clinical studies that ethically justify risk/benefit.

Minimum entry requirements are either a medical degree (such as an MBBS) or a 2:1 first degree in pharmacy, pharmacology, biology, biochemistry, chemistry or related subject. The course will suit individuals seeking to develop a practical understanding of importance of ethics in medicine development and life-cycle management by the pharmaceutical industry e.g. pharmaceutical physicians, scientists in R&D and medical affairs, and regulatory affairs personnel.