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. 2021 Dec;87(12):4853-4860.
doi: 10.1111/bcp.14885. Epub 2021 May 26.

Medical students as junior adverse drug event managers facilitating reporting of ADRs

Michael O Reumerman  1   2 , Jelle Tichelaar  1   2 , Milan C Richir  1   2 , Michiel A van Agtmael  1   2
Affiliations

Medical students as junior adverse drug event managers facilitating reporting of ADRs

Michael O Reumerman et al. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

The Junior Adverse Drug Event Manager (J-ADEM) team is a multifaceted intervention focusing on real-life education for medical students that has been shown to assist healthcare professionals in managing and reporting suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb. The aim of this study was to quantify and describe the ADRs reported by the J-ADEM team and to determine the clinical potential of this approach. The J-ADEM team consisted of medical students tasked with managing and reporting ADRs in hospitalized patients. All ADRs screened and reported by J-ADEM team were recorded anonymously, and categorized and analysed descriptively. From August 2018 through January 2020, 209 patients on two wards in an academic hospital were screened for ADR events. The J-ADEM team reported 101 ADRs. Although most ADRs (67%) were first identified by healthcare professionals and then reported by the J-ADEM team, the team also reported an additional 33 not previously identified serious ADRs. In 10% of all reported ADRs, the J-ADEM team helped optimize ADR treatment. The ADR reports were largely well-documented (78%), and ADRs were classified as type A (66%), had a moderate or severe severity (85%) and were predominantly avoidable reactions (69%). This study shows that medical students are able to screen patients for ADRs, can identify previously undetected ADRs and can help optimize ADR management. They significantly increased (by 300%) the number of ADR reports submitted, showing that the J-ADEM team can make a valuable clinical contribution to hospital care.

Keywords: medical education; pharmacotherapy; pharmacovigilance; reporting ADRs.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no competing interests to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The Junior Adverse Drug Event Manager procedure. The first step consisted of identifying all patients with potential ADRs by screening or being consulted by a healthcare professional. The second step consisted of reviewing the patient's electronic patient record (EPR) and performing a thorough medication and side effect interview with the patient. The third step consisted of reporting the ADR to the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Center Lareb and handling all follow‐up questions. The final step consisted of providing the attending physician with feedback received from Lareb and uploading this information into the patient's EPR
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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