Knowledge and Awareness about Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine Among the Students of College of Medicine, Shaqra university in Dawadmi, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine are the two rapidly emerging areas in medical field which will determine the drug therapy of the future. It is very important for current medical students to be aware of these medical fields and apply these principles in their medical practice. There is huge scope for research in this area, hence an awareness study was conducted among medical students of college of medicine, Shaqra university, Dawadmi. Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among the medical students of Shaqra university, Dawadmi by self-administered questionnaire. 150 students participated in the study. Results: Out of the 150 students participated in the study Pharmacogenomics is relevant to my education 25% strongly agree. 45% agreed to recommend pharmacogenomic testing. Familiarity with genetics is only 16% and only 14% are familiar with interpreting results of pharmacogenomic tests. Knowledge testing showed overall less percentage. Only 16% can identify drugs that require pharmacogenomic testing. But 36% are confident to use the results of pharmacogenomics tests to make an appropriate adjustment to a patient’s drug therapy. Knowledge about personalized medicine is 31% with scale of 3 out of 7.40% of students agreed to undergo genetic testing. 52% of the participants agreed to know about their risk for developing genetic based chronic diseases. Conclusion: There is genuine interest and awareness about Pharmacogenomics and Personalized medicine among the medical students but the knowledge is lacking. Hence including these areas in the undergraduate medical curriculum will impart valuable knowledge to the future medical students. Key words: Pharmacogenomics, Personalized medicine, Pharmacogenetic testing.