July 2005 

 

 

 

 

ISPOR e-BULLETIN provides updates of recent ISPOR activities and events. For detailed information on ISPOR activities, members are encouraged to go to www.ispor.org.

 

Please share these new ISPOR activities with your colleagues.

 

NEW THIS MONTH

  **NEW** Value in Health’s First Impact Factor Ranks #1 (3.657 SCORE)!

  **NEW** Value in Health “On-Line Early” Featured Manuscripts for Volume 8, Issue 4, July/August 2005

  **NEW** Over 850 abstracts submitted for the ISPOR 8^th Annual European Congress

**NEW** ISPOR 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference–UPDATES

**NEW** ISPOR Short Courses–ISPOR 8^th Annual European Congress–UPDATES

**NEW** New ISPOR Student Chapters

**NEW** ISPOR Task Force: Budget Impact Analysis

**NEW** ISPOR Special Interest Group (SIG) Updates

**NEW** 7 New Positions At The ISPOR Website

**NEW** New ISPOR Local Chapter

 

      

 ISPOR ONGOING ACTIVITIES

 

1.       Publications

2.       Meetings and Congresses

3.       Educational Activities

4.       Student News

5.       ISPOR Special Interest Groups

6.       Committee and Task Force Activities

7.       Hot Topics

8.       Important Dates to Remember

9.       Asia Consortium and Local Chapter News

10.    Employment in Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research

11.    Membership

 

1. PUBLICATIONS

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VALUE IN HEALTH

 

**NEW**VALUE IN HEALTH’S FIRST IMPACT FACTOR RANKS #1

Value in Health was ranked #1, as of June 21, 2005, by the ISI Journal Citation Reports®.  The first ever impact factor score is 3.657!  Value in Health led both the health care sciences and services field in the JCR Science Edition and in the health policy & services in the JCR social sciences edition categories, above such established journals as Health Affairs, The Milbank Quarterly, and Health Affairs.

 

To view the top twenty journals with their scores in both the science and social sciences categories, go to: http://www.ispor.org/publications/value/impact_factors.asp

 

**NEW** VALUE IN HEALTH “ON-LINE EARLY” MANUSCRIPTS

Volume 8, Issue 4, July/August 2005 “On-Line Early” will on line later this month. To view these “On-Line Early” articles, simply go to http://www.ispor.org/valueinhealth_index.asp, log on using your membership information, and follow the link.

 

Featured in Volume 8, Issue 4…

 

EMPIRICAL

IT IS POSSIBLE TO ASSESS HOW MUCH PATIENTS FAVOR VARIOUS FEATURES OF HIV MEDICATIONS

 

Kathleen M. Beusterien, Kristina Dziekan, Emuella Flood, Gale Harding, Jamie C. Jordan

 

Acceptability of HIV drugs to the patient is important for long-term treatment success.  However, the wide variation and complexity of features (such as effectiveness, convenience, risk of side effects, etc.) associated with available medications makes it difficult to determine which would be best for a given patient.  Conjoint analysis is a tool that can be used to assess the tradeoffs a patient would make among various product features.  In a recent study, “Understanding Patient Preferences for HIV Medications using Adaptive Conjoint Analysis:  Feasibility Assessment,” in Value in Health, Vol. 8, Issue 4, Beusterien et al. studied preferences for 12 different HIV medication features associated with third agent HIV drugs in a sample of HIV individuals.  The study found that the risk of developing drug resistance, convenience, and the risk of sleep disturbance had the greatest impact on patient preferences for an HIV medication.  The patients appreciated the complexity of the questions because they mirrored real-life choices.  The specific preference values obtained for each of the features can be used to predict why patients would choose one medication over another.  The study supports using conjoint analysis for assessing preferences for medications like HIV drugs that may be quite complex and include various levels of risk. 

 

WOMEN’S PREFERENCES FOR A TRAINING PROGRAM IN BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION

 

Mickael Bech, Jan Sørensen, Jørgen Lauridsen

 

The clinical effectiveness of breast self-examination (BSE) training programs has been extensively debated in the literature but few studies have looked at the women’s preferences. A recent study, “Eliciting women’s preferences for a training program in breast self-examination: a conjoint ranking experiment” published in Value in Health reports measures of women’s preferences for different attributes of a BSE program. Mickael Bech and colleagues from University of Southern Denmark found that women place a positive value on a BSE training program. The most important feature that emerged here was whether the training was provided on a group basis or an individual basis. Women prefer individual and small training classes (8-10 participants) compared to large classes (18-20 participants). Converted into welfare estimates the women were on average willing to pay 225-462 DKK (€30-62) and 180-270 DKK (€24-36) to participate in an individual or a small training class, respectively. “We found that the results were similar regardless of whether or not the women had previously participated in BSE training” says Bech. The authors emphasize “that the conjoint ranking method used in the study is not without problems since around 20% of the respondents violated a basic assumption of economic theory, in which the cheaper of two otherwise identical goods should be preferred. This may imply that the method was too cognitively demanding for some of the respondents.”

 

Value in Health: Volume 8, Issue 3, May/June 2005 is online at: http://www.ispor.org/valueinhealth_index.asp. 

 

 

ISPOR CONNECTIONS

 

ISPOR CONNECTIONS: Volume 10, Issue 6, May/June 2005 is now available to the public at: http://www.ispor.org/news/index_new.asp. In this issue:

 

ISPOR 10^th Annual Meeting Summary

ISPOR 10^th Annual Meeting Award Recipients

ISPOR 10^th Meeting Photo Gallery

ISPOR Comments on the Medicare Rx Data Elements

 

HEALTH CARE COST, QUALITY, AND OUTCOMES: ISPOR BOOK OF TERMS

  

"RTI Health Solutions clients appreciated receiving the ISPOR Book of Terms. They found it to be a valuable resource." Graham Dyck, Director, Marketing and Business Development, RTI Health Solutions, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.

 

This ISPOR publication includes more than 100 detailed monographs covering over 400 terms used in health care delivery, management, and regulation, as well as health care outcomes research including clinical, economic, and quality-of-life research terms. ISPOR member discounted price is $36.00; a 40% discount!  Student/Library/Academic discounted price: $33.00 (a 45% discount). On-line ordering is now available at: http://www.ispor.org/publications/lexicon_index.asp.  Contact Stephen Priori at spriori@ispor.org for information on orders over 100. 

 

  

2. ISPOR MEETINGS AND CONGRESSES

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**NEW**ISPOR EIGHTH ANNUAL EUROPEAN CONGRESS–OVER 850 ABSTRACTS SUBMITTED FOR THE ISPOR 8^TH ANNUAL EUROPEAN CONGRESS

      6-8 November 2005 Palazzo Degli Affari, Florence , Italy

     "INCORPORATING VALUES INTO HEALTH CARE DECISIONS"

 

First Plenary Session:

Patient Values and Societal Values: How to Measure and Compare Outcomes
and What Considerations for the Different Audiences

http://www.ispor.org/congresses/italy1105/100605.asp

 

Second Plenary Session:

Health Care Decision Makers Facing the Budget Allocation Dilemma:

Compressing Mortality vs. Compressing Morbidity

http://www.ispor.org/congresses/italy1105/100705.asp

 

Third Plenary Session:

The Value of Safety: A Critical Issue All Along the Development
and Marketing of Pharmaceuticals

http://www.ispor.org/congresses/italy1105/100805.asp

 

ISPOR Contributed Issue Panels:

A total of 9 contributed Issue Panels have been accepted to the ISPOR 8^th European Congress covering all of the following topics:

 

*Economic Outcomes Issues

*Clinical Outcomes Issues

*Quality of Life / Patient Reported Outcomes Issues

*Health Policy – Health Care Reimbursement Issues

*Risk Management Issues

 

We would like to thank all the Issue Panel reviewers, as well as Andrea Messori and Cristina Negrini, Issue Panel Committee Co-Chairs, for their efforts involved in this decision-making process.  Issue Panel moderators will be notified by August 2, 2005 regarding their acceptance to this Congress.

 

ISPOR Contributed Workshops:

A total of 32 Workshops have been accepted to the ISPOR 8^th European Congress.  The accepted Workshops will include the following topics:

      

*Medication Compliance

*Risk Management

*Population Health

*Managed Care Formulary Dossier Development or Research Agendas

*Patient Registries

*Health Technology Assessment

 

We would like to thank all of the Workshop reviewers, as well as Workshop Committee Co-Chair, Claude Le Pen, for their efforts during this selection process.  Workshop Discussion Leaders will be notified by August 2, 2005 regarding their acceptance to this Congress.

 

      Exhibitor Opportunities available at:

https://www.ispor.org/Exhibit_Sponsor/ExhibitorOpportunities.aspx?event=3

 

      Sponsorship Opportunities available at:

https://www.ispor.org/Exhibit_Sponsor/SponsorshipOpportunities.aspx?event=3

 

For more details about the Congress, go to: http://www.ispor.org/congresses/italy1105/index.asp

 

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**NEW** ISPOR 2nd ASIA-PACIFIC CONFERENCE - UPDATES

Shanghai Worldfield Convention Hotel, Shanghai, China • 5-7 March 2006

IMPROVING EVIDENCE AND OUTCOMES IN HEALTH CARE DECISION MAKING IN ASIA PACIFIC: CHALLENGE TO A NEW ERA

 

CO-ORGANIZED BY

ISPOR Asia Consortium

Fudan University, P.R. China

 

CO-SPONSORED BY:

Shanghai Municipal Government, P.R. China

Ministry of Labor and Social Security, P.R. China

State Food and Drug Administration, P.R. China

Department of Science, Technology and Education, Ministry of Health, P.R. China

Shanghai City Food and Drug Administration, P.R. China

Chinese Medical Doctor Association, P.R. China

China Social Insurance Association, P.R. China

Chinese Medical Association, P.R. China

Chinese Pharmaceutical Association, P.R. China

Chinese Pharmacist Association, P.R. China

Chinese Clinical Epidemiology Society, P.R. China

Chinese Cochrane Center, P.R. China

Peking University, P.R. China

The Pharmaceutical Association of Thailand under the Royal Patronage, Thailand

 

For updates, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/conferences/shanghai0306/sponsors.asp

 

ON-LINE ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 12 SEPTEMBER 2005

Abstract submissions are invited for Contributed Research and Contributed Workshop. Abstracts submitted to the 10^th or 11^th Annual International Meeting or the 8^th Annual European Congress can be submitted to this Conference. All abstracts should be submitted through http://ispor.confex.com/ispor/asia2/index.html.

 

SHORT COURSES:

Introduction to Pharmacoeconomics

Introduction to Quality of Life Assessment

Meta-Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

Introduction to Biostatistics in Clinical Trials

Introductions to Decision Analysis

Budget Impact Analysis

Modeling: Structure and Design of a Model

Retrospective Data Analysis

Formulary Development and Cost Analysis

 

For further information, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/conferences/shanghai0306/p030505.asp

 

1^st Plenary Session:

Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research development and use in Asia-Pacific

Moderator: Tony YH Tarn PhD, Director, Department of Pharmacy, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Speakers: Shanlian Hu MD, MSc, Professor, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, Isao Kamae, MD, PH, Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan, Syed Mohamed Aljunid (invited), Shu-Chen Li, PhD, MS, MBA, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Bong-Min Yang, South Korea, and Ajarn Vithaya, (invited)Thailand.

 

2nd Plenary Session:

Development and Implementation of Pharmacoeconomics Requirements: International Experiences

Moderator: to be determined

Speakers: Suzanne Hill, Australia (invited) and speaker from UK TBD

 

8 PODIUM SESSIONS, 8 WORKSHOP SESSIONS and 9 CO-SPONSORED SPECIALSESSIONS:

For details, go to:

http://www.ispor.org/conferences/shanghai0306/p030605.asp http://www.ispor.org/conferences/shanghai0306/p030705.asp

 

FINANCIAL SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Financial support opportunities are available at: https://www.ispor.org/Exhibit_Sponsor/SponsorshipOpportunities.aspx?event=1

           

EXHIBITOR OPPORTUNITIES:

Exhibitor opportunities are available at:

https://www.ispor.org/Exhibit_Sponsor/ExhibitorOpportunities.aspx?event=1

 

EARLY REGISTRATIN DEADLINE: 5 FEBRUARY 2006

For further conference information, go to: http://www.ispor.org/conferences/shanghai0306/index.asp

 

 

3. EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

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**NEW** ISPOR SHORT COURSES–ISPOR 8^TH ANNUAL EUROPEAN CONGRESS– UPDATES

 

Saturday 6 November Short Courses:

 

Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research

Pharmacoeconomics for the Health Care Decision-Maker

Faculty: Ralph Crott PhD, MPH, Health Economist, Health Care Knowledge Center, Brussels, Belgium.

 

Quality of Life / Patient-Reported Outcomes / Preference-based Measurement

The Analysis and Interpretation of Quality of Life and Patient Reported Outcomes

Faculty: Linda Abetz MA, Director, Questionnaire Development and Validation, Mapi Values, Bollington, UK; Christine de la Loge Director, Psychometrics and Statistics Mapi Values, Lyon, France.

 

Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research

European Databases and Retrospective Database Analysis

Faculty: TBA

 

Cost Studies

Cost Estimation and Assessing Financial (Budget) Impact of New Health Care Technologies  

Faculty: Josephine Mauskopf PhD, Global Head, Health Economics and Outcomes Strategy, RTI Health Solutions, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; C. Daniel Mullins PhD, Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA.

 

Modeling

Pharmacoeconomic Modeling
Faculty: Uwe Siebert MD, MPH, MSc, Decision Scientist, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Program, Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA and Director of the Program on Health Technology Assessment and Decision Sciences (HTA&DS), Institute for Medical Informatics, Biostatistics, and Epidemiology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany; Gaby Sroczynski MPH, Decision Scientist, Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA and Bavarian Public Health Research and Coordinating Center, University Munich, Germany.

 

For Saturday Short Courses descriptions, go to: http://www.ispor.org/congresses/italy1105/satsc.asp

 

Sunday, 6 November Short Courses:

 

Pharmacoeconomics

Elements of Pharmaceutical Pricing

Faculty: Jack Mycka, President, Optimar Strategic Consulting LLC, Montclair, NJ, USA; Renato Dellamano PhD, President, ValueVector (Value Added Business Strategies), Milan, Italy

 

Costing Studies

Transferability of Cost-Effectiveness Data between Countries

Faculty: TBA

 

European Health Care Policies

Health Care and Reimbursement Systems in Europe 

Faculty: Gordon Carey Cambridge Pharma Consultancy Ltd., Cambridge, UK

 

Modeling

Bayesian Methods in Economic Evaluations

Faculty: TBA

 

Discrete Event Simulation for Economic Analysis

Faculty: J. Jaime Caro MDCM, FCRPC, FACP, Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal PQ and Scientific Director, Caro Research Institute, Concord, MA, USA; Jörgen Möller MSc Mech Eng, Simulation Specialist, Caro Research Institute, Concord, MA, USA

 

Quality of Life / Patient-Reported Outcomes / Preference-based Measurement

Utility Measurements (Preference-Based Techniques)

Faculty: Jan Busschbach PhD, Senior Investigator, Department for Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy and Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Elly Stolk MSc, Institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA), Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

 

For Sunday Short Courses descriptions, go to: http://www.ispor.org/congresses/italy1105/sunsc.asp

 

ISPOR Distance Learning Program Modules

http://www.ispor.org/distancelearning/index.asp

  

The following module topics are currently available (total of 40 modules):

·      Pharmacoeconomics

·      Pharmacoeconomic Evaluations & Methods

·      Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

·      Cost-Benefit Analysis

·      Cost-Utility Analysis

·      Patient-Reported Outcomes (Utilities, Health-Related Quality Of Life, Treatment  Satisfaction, Treatment Adherence, Patient Preferences)

·      Study Design in Pharmacoeconomics

·      Guidelines and Reference Standards

·      Pharmacoeconomics in Drug Development, Reimbursement and Marketing

 

 

4. STUDENT NEWS

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**NEW** WELCOME NEW ISPOR STUDENT CHAPTERS!

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Philadelphia , PA, USA

Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain

 

For more details on the ISPOR Student Network, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/student/student_index.asp        

      

  

5. ISPOR SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (SIG)

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VALUE-BASED REIMBURSEMENT SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/reimbursement.asp

 

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/hta.asp

 

TRANSLATING RESEARCH TO CLINICAL PRACTICE SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/cp.asp

 

PATIENT REGISTRY SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/patient_registr.asp

 

QUALITY OF LIFE SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/qol.asp

 
MEDICATION COMPLIANCE & PERSISTENCE SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/medication.asp

 

RETROSPECTIVE DATABASE SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/retrospective_db.asp

 

RISK MANAGEMENT SIG

 

For more details on this SIG, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/rm.asp and join as a reference or leadership group member.

 

MANAGED CARE SIG

 

For more details, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/mc_pbm.asp

 

Special Interest Group membership is open to ALL ISPOR members. To JOIN any SIG: http://www.ispor.org/sigs/joinsig.htm

 

 

6. ISPOR BOARD, COMMITTEE, AND TASK FORCE ACTIVITIES

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ISPOR TASK FORCE: USING "REAL WORLD" DATA IN COVERAGE AND REIMBURSEMENT DECISIONS

  

For more details, including a draft outline of this final paper, and a list of core group members, go to: http://www.ispor.org/workpaper/real_world_data.asp

 

**NEW** ISPOR TASK FORCE: BUDGET IMPACT ANALYSIS

 

The Budget Impact Analysis Task Force was created in May 2005 with the purpose of establishing best practice methods for conducting and reviewing BIA and that would be comparative to CEA.  The Task Force is currently drafting a paper to be published in Value in Health and will present a one-hour workshop at the ISPOR 8^th Annual European Congress in Florence, Italy, November 2005.

 

These results will be published on the ISPOR website in the future.  For examples of reports from other ISPOR Good Research Practices Task Forces, please visit the ISPOR website at: http://www.ispor.org/workpaper/practices_index.asp.

7. HOT TOPICS

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MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES TO HAVE MORE HEALTH PLAN CHOICES AND GREATER SAVINGS WITH MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS THAN EVER BEFORE–MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS AVAILABLE IN MORE AREAS AND WITH MORE BENEFITS IN 2005 PROVIDING GREATER SAVINGS TO PEOPLE WITH MEDICARE

June 30, 2005 – Nearly all Medicare beneficiaries across the U.S. have access to Medicare coordinated care plans and other health plan options in 2005, and these plans are providing significant new out-of-pocket savings to Medicare beneficiaries, particularly those with chronic illnesses. 

For full text of the article, see: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1497

 

8. IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

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12 September 2005 - On-line abstract submission deadline for  ISPOR 2^nd Asia-Pacific Conference, Shanghai Worldfield Convention Hotel, Shanghai, China

 

8-11 November 2005 – ISPOR 8^th European Congress, Palazzo Degli Affari, Florence, Italy

 

5-7 March 2006 – ISPOR 2^nd Asia-Pacific Conference, Shanghai Worldfield Convention Hotel, Shanghai, China

 

20-26 May 2006 – ISPOR 11^th Annual International Meeting, Marriott Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

 

9. ASIA CONSORTIUM AND LOCAL CHAPTER NEWS

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ISPOR ASIA CONSORTIUM

 

For more details on this consortium, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/consortiums/asia.asp

 

ISPOR 2ND ASIA-PACIFIC CONFERENCE

The ISPOR 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference will be held in Shanghai, China, 5-7 March 2006. Abstract submission begins 1 July 2005 and ends 3 October 2005.  Early registration deadline is 5 February 2006.

 

For more details on the 2^nd Asia-Pacific Conference, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/conferences/shanghai0306/index.asp

 

**NEW** ISPOR LOCAL CHAPTERS

Hong Kong Chapter, Russia Chapter, Poland Chapter Taiwan Chapter and Czech Chapter 

 

ISPOR CZECH CHAPTER

The 2004-2005 ISPOR Board of Directors unanimously approved the Czech Pharmaco-Economic Society (ČFES)as the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Czech Chapter, an ISPOR local chapter.  As of March 30, 2005, the ČFES currently has 46 active participating members!

 

At the inaugural meeting, the Committee of the Society was elected as follows:
     

Prof. MUDr. Jan Švihovec – Chairman
      MUDr. Tomáš Doležal – Deputy Chairman
      MUDr. Jana Skoupá – Tresurer
      Doc. MUDr. Karel Němeček – Member of the Committee
      MUDr. Juraj Minárik – Member of the Committee
      MUDr. Petr Dedek – Member of the Committee
      MUDr. Michal Prokeš – Member of the Committee

The most recently elected officials for the Revision Committee are:
      Mgr. František Mészáros – Chairman of the Revision Commission
      MUDr. Robert Kučera – Member of the Revision Commission
      MUDr. Marta Váchová – Member of the Revision Commission

 

To see more on this exciting new ISPOR Local Chapter, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/local_chapters/Czech/index.asp !

 

***For more details on other ISPOR Local Chapters, please visit: http://www.ispor.org/local_chapters/index.asp

 

10. EMPLOYMENT

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**NEW** 7 NEW POSITIONS AT THE ISPOR WEBSITE: http://www.ispor.org/employment/employment_index.asp

 

Advertise your positions on ISPOR Website (~1 million hits per month)

 

INTERNSHIPS

Visit ISPOR's Internship-Professional Recruitment Assistance Program (I-PRAP) at http://www.ispor.org/iprap/index.asp

 

STUDENTS: Post your CVs/resumes for employers to view and search for internship positions available.  Nine student resumes posted! 

 

EMPLOYERS: Post your Intern positions for FREE and access CVs/resumes from students.

 

If you have any questions, please contact: iprap@ispor.org.

 

11. ISPOR MEMBERSHIP

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Update your email address at https://www.ispor.org/members/addresschange.asp! Your email address is required as part of your log in information in the members only section of the ISPOR website.