Should drug industry staff teach students?

I realise that medical training in this age has to devlop new models of financing training. The importance of clinical pharmacology for medcal training cannot be over emphasised. The participation of the drug industry is a welcome innovation but as with all innovations that matter, there wil be mistakes. Let us anticipate these mistakes and welcome this development.

As an undergraduate and postgraduate teacher myself, I belief basic medical training should be formal, rigorous and exhaustive as whatever clinical knowledge and acumen I have now is based on that foundation. Having students exposed to drug industry at this impressionable stage may bias them and leave them vulnerable to commercial interests, and their training may be affected since it may be in the hands of those without experience.

The plus side may be gaining a perspective of research, drug design and manufacture, clinical trials and publications. Hence such training if at all, should be done under strict supervision to exclude the marketing side of the pharma business.

Conflicting interest: Am teaching at a traditional Indian medical school.

Seeing as though no one really seems to formally teach us pharmacology any way, teaching from anyone, including drug industry staff, would be more than welcome!
We had pharmacology in second year once every fortnight but now will not have much until Year 5. We are expected to learn it all our selves.

In agreement with the comment made by Matt above, I feel it is an area of education in medicine where the idea of 'students directing their own learning' is risky. Pharmacology forms part of my problem based learning (PBL) curriculum (I am a medicine 2nd yr undergrad) and I am thus left to my own devices when it comes to learning something such as this. Surely it would be beneficial for enquiry into the aetiology / prevalence / pathogenesis of disease to remain the responsibility of the student to teach themselves, but clinical skills and treatments should be taught under very vigilant guidance.

After all, clinical skills are demonstrated and taught to me in laboratory sessions, which requires none of my own self-directed learning. Pharmacological treatment comes under the same umbrella, so I am at a loss as to why I am trusted to teach it to myself.