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Pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) have been shown to influence the prescribing patterns of physicians. Some of the blame has been shifted from physicians to PSRs due to perceived inadequacies in PSRs' education and certification. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature regarding the current certification requirements for PSRs, motivation for nationally standardized certification and the controversy surrounding pharmaceutical detailing impact on physicians' prescribing behavior.

Articles related to certification for PSRs were identified via searches of PubMed and IPA from inception to March 2011. Search terms included PSRs, PSRs certification, PSRs registration, PSRs education, and PSRs requirements. Articles describing the roles and responsibilities of PSRs, physician and public perception of PSRs, certification processes, and the future of PSRs' roles were included. An internet search was also performed to identify articles in the lay press related to this topic.

This paper shows that the certification for PSRs may become necessary, or even required, to help ensure that the prescribing patterns of physicians are not negatively affected due to false information coming from the PSRs. Therefore, ensuring that PSRs are well certified can lead to better health outcomes for patients. Although pharmaceutical companies do not require certification to gain employment as a sales representative, the certification provides a good knowledge base and insight into the industry.

The paper shows that appropriate training and certification of PSRs may be on the rise for this career path.

The purpose of this paper is to assess pharmacy students' perceptions of the usefulness of the teaching evaluation (TE) instrument and the rationale behind their responses.

A comprehensive survey instrument is constructed by the authors. Pharmacy students at University of Jordan (JU) are asked to complete the survey instrument. The questionnaire is completed during students first required, regularly scheduled class.

Of the 577 pharmacy students who are invited to participate, 557 completed the survey for a response rate of 96.5 percent. The majority of the 557 pharmacy students viewed student evaluation of teaching as worthwhile (4.11 out of five on a Likert scale anchored at “1, strongly disagree” and “5, strongly agree”), but agreed that the faculty members receiving the best evaluations are not always the most effective teachers (3.54 out of five).

This paper only surveyed pharmacy students who are studying at JU and hence the results from this paper cannot be generalized to all pharmacy schools or countries in the Middle East. In addition, results may be biased by a social desirability effect whereas students respond in a manner that is different than their true perceptions.

Students acknowledge that the nature of the course, answering questions during office hours, and a pleasant instructor personality positively affected their evaluation score, while the majority of students disagree with the belief that having less work to do and easy exams impacted positively their evaluation scores.

This paper is one of the few attempts to assess the students' perception towards the TE process and the rationale behind their responses in the Middle East.

Electronic detailing (e‐detailing) has been introduced in the last few years by the pharmaceutical industry as a new communication channel to promote pharmaceutical products to physicians. E‐detailing means using digital technology: internet, video conferencing, and interactive voice response. Because of the rapid adoption of e‐detailing among physicians and because of the potential effects of e‐detailing on the physician prescribing behavior, it is important to summarize research about e‐detailing. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on e‐detailing of pharmaceuticals to physicians.

A review of the literature was conducted to address reasons behind e‐detailing emergence, e‐detailing as a replacement for traditional detailing, different definitions of e‐detailing, e‐detailing processes, the prevalence of e‐detailing among physicians, types of e‐detailing, drivers for e‐detailing adoption among physicians, and adopters' characteristics.

Based on the literature review, there are two types of e‐detailing: interactive (virtual) and video. Several factors including convenience, quality of information, and incentives are common reasons for physicians' adoption of e‐detailing. E‐detailing adopters are more likely to be residents, younger, primary care physicians, practicing in rural areas, and working in solo practice.

This paper provides timely review about e‐detailing for pharmaceutical industry practitioners and institutional healthcare policy makers. However, well designed research studies on the effects of e‐detailing on prescribing are needed. From the pharmaceutical companies perspective, more research should be conducted to determine the best ways to maximize the value pharmaceutical companies can gain through the utilization of e‐detailing tools.