Exploration of the knowledge and perception of the last year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine of the Northeast National University on generic drugs in the months of August to October of the year 2020

Abstract

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, a generic drug is “a pharmaceutical product, generally intended to be interchangeable with an innovative product, that is manufactured without a license from the innovative company and is marketed after the expiration date of the patent or other exclusive rights”. As future prescribing physicians, they play a very important role in the implementation and promotion of generic drugs. The objective of this work is to determine the knowledge about generic drugs in medical students of the last year of the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of the Northeast. Methodology: Descriptive, cross-sectional study with students who are in the last year of the degree. To obtain the data, a survey was prepared in Google Forms that was sent to the students. Subsequently, a database was created in Excel and analyzed with Epi Info V7. Results: 92.2% considered that the various commercial brands of the same drug do not modify its action. Almost all of the students are sure of being able to advise drugs by their generic name in the future. All the respondents indicate that both they and the patients they can observe in their academic practices request more information about the safety margin of generic drugs. Conclusion: As future doctors, it is considered that students should have a high level of knowledge about generic drugs to correctly prescribe and properly advise and inform their patients, family members and / or friends.