Medical student Leana Wen knows becoming a doctor means that she will soon get lots of nice gift offers-catered lunches, dinners at fine restaurants and endless office supplies, to name a few-from drugmakers that hope she will readily prescribe their products. Yet rather than relish these traditional perks, Wen and the 60,000-member American Medical Students Association (AMSA) have launched a campaign to offset the influence of drug-industry representatives. Students at 150 medical schools intend to fan out this year across the country, calling on 40,000 doctors, urging them to stop depending on salespeople bearing gifts. "Accepting gifts from drug companies influences prescribing habits in a way that is not in the best interest of patients," says Wen, president of AMSA. "If we can reach the current generation of students [with new ethical standards], we can change the culture of medicine as well."
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