The central role of pharmacoepidemiology in comparative effectiveness research education: critical next steps.

摘要

In this issue, Murray reports on an interdisciplinary panel convened at the Pharmaceutical Research Manufactures Association Foundation, which focused on the skills needed for doing comparative effectiveness research (CER) and on how these might be addressed by education programs. The panel was not as broad as the field of CER-the focus was on skills for doing CER and on using CER around pharmaceutical treatments. Other types of treatments and healthcare strategies, considered as part of CER in the reports by the Institute of Medicine and the Federal Coordinating Council for CER, were not a focus. Moreover, the assessment of methods was top level, not in detail; it was understood that others are detailing the methods and the educational competencies for CER. However, these limitations should not distract from the importance of this report.