Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, cilt.22, sa.2, ss.245-251, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Background: Although most studies about physician knowledge and attitude toward biosimilars have been conducted on specialists, studies addressing this issue among medical students are missing. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness levels of biologics and biosimilars of medical students who will encounter these products soon. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 228 medical students were grouped as preclinical (Years 1,2,3) and clinical (Years 4,5,6). Students were given a survey including demographic (grade and gender) and questions about assessing their knowledge about biologics and biosimilars. Results: Clinical students’ knowledge was better than preclinical students (54% and 25%, respectively). Students did not know much about biosimilars (7–20%) and thought a biosimilar is identical to its generic product (35%). More than 90% of the students thought that a lesson about biologics should be included in the medical curriculum. Conclusions: Our study showed that medical students had inadequate knowledge about biosimilars. We suggest that to establish a positive attitude toward prescribing biosimilars, knowledge about biologics and biosimilars should be delivered to physicians early, while they are still medical students, by including this topic into the medical curriculum.