PLEASE NOTE: This course has had a change of code - up to and including 2009 it was PHPH9124 and was combined with course PHPH9125 (each 3 Units of Credit).

This course provides an overview of the economic and financial background against which medical department decisions or recommendations are made about introducing and marketing new pharmaceutical products. This includes general issues of healthcare economics as they relate to the pharmaceutical industry including measures of health care, governmental policy, approval and appeals processes, and third-party reimbursement. Also included is an orientation on return on capital, fixed assets, budgeting, and profitability, marketing structure and competition. Basic principles of pharmacoeconomic studies are addressed, including health economic principles and practices, quality of life measures, and the application and validity of the methodology used to assess cost / benefit ratios of healthcare options.

This course also focuses on organisation, staffing and function of the medical department within a pharmaceutical company. It explores the management skills required to run an effective medical department namely: inter-personal skills, human resource (HR) management, project management, and crisis management. The role and responsibilities of the pharmaceutical physician in each of these areas is discussed and is the theme of the weekend workshop for this course. Students spend at least one full day working with their mentor in a medical department gaining background and experience in the skills referred to above.

This course is available only for programme 5511.