A Critical Appraisal and Targeted Intervention of the Oncology Experience in an Internal Medicine Residency (original) (raw)
Related papers
Resident-Reported Impact of a Novel Oncology Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents
Journal of Cancer Education
The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education mandates that all internal medicine residents gain exposure to internal medicine subspecialties including hematology and oncology. While many residents meet this criterion through inpatient oncology rotations, the current structure of many inpatient oncology rotations leaves little opportunity for formal education. We therefore designed a novel oncology curriculum consisting of one-page oncology teaching sheets to increase the number, breadth, and quality of formal teaching sessions on our resident inpatient oncology services. In order to evaluate the curriculum, we conducted pre-and post-intervention surveys of residents. From these surveys, we found that 72.2% of residents used the teaching sheets on their inpatient oncology rotation and that the teaching sheets led to an increase in the number of formal oncology teaching sessions (mean 3.4 ± 2.1 post-implementation vs 2.6 ± 2.0 pre-implementation, p = 0.008), the breadth of oncology topics taught (% reporting ≥ 5 topics; 26.1% vs 16.3%, p = 0.035), the proportion of residents reporting improvement in overall oncology knowledge (80.2% vs 62.4%, p = 0.012), and the proportion of residents reporting improvement in their ability to care for patients (70.8% vs 48.9%, p = 0.013). These results demonstrate that formal oncology teaching can be improved on inpatient oncology rotations through a simple and easily replicable oncology curriculum.
Oncology education for family medicine residents: a national needs assessment survey
BMC Medical Education
Background This study aimed to determine the current state of oncology education in Canadian family medicine postgraduate medical education programs (FM PGME) and examine opinions regarding optimal oncology education in these programs. Methods A survey was designed to evaluate ideal and current oncology teaching, educational topics, objectives, and competencies in FM PGMEs. The survey was sent to Canadian family medicine (FM) residents and program directors (PDs). Results In total, 150 residents and 17 PDs affiliated with 16 of 17 Canadian medical schools completed the survey. The majority indicated their programs do not have a mandatory clinical rotation in oncology (79% residents, 88% PDs). Low rates of residents (7%) and PDs (13%) reported FM residents being adequately prepared for their role in caring for cancer patients (p = 0.03). Residents and PDs believed the most optimal method of teaching oncology is through clinical exposure (65% residents, 80% PDs). Residents and PDs agr...
PubMed, 2004
We conducted a questionnaire survey among 261 year-4 and year-5 medical students containing 27 questions related to cancer, radiotherapy, general oncology and palliative care to assess their knowledge, understanding, and exposure to oncology and palliative care in our medical school. Out of 261 students, 139 students returned their questionnaire for analysis. Twenty nine percent (29%) of the students had rarely visited the Radiotherapy and Oncology unit. There were profound deficiencies in the basic knowledge of cancer (46%), principles of radiotherapy treatment (59%), palliative care (64%), and cancer prevention (48%). They reported no specific teaching about early detection of common malignancies and cancer prevention. The main input of instruction about cancer came from surgery (46%) and pathology (28%) teachings. This study revealed that there is deficiency in cancer education in the undergraduate teaching program in our institution.
Oncology and medical education-past, present and future
Ecancermedicalscience, 2016
Oncologists should contribute to the undergraduate curriculum whenever they can, and should teach communication skills, acute oncology, prescribing, and other transferable skills. Newly qualified doctors will care for many patients with cancer in their first years of work, and all doctors need to know when an urgent oncology referral is required and to be aware of the pace of change in oncology. Oncologists should involve their patients in teaching whenever it is appropriate. We should aim to inspire junior doctors to consider a career in oncology. The oncology education community should adopt new teaching methods, for example simulation, mock MDTs and student led clinics. CPD provided by honorable organisations, including online learning, is becoming more important for oncologists to keep up to date.
Advances in Medical Education and Practice
Newly diagnosed cases of cancer are expected to double by the year 2040. Although many different oncology teaching initiatives have been implemented, many students continue to report uncertainty when dealing with patients with cancer. Through this review, we aim to find the most effective teaching methods to better prepare future physicians. Papers studying different methods of teaching oncology were identified through a thorough review of specific electronic databases. Each study was analyzed and sorted into one of ten unique categories created by the authors specifically for this review. If portions of the study fit into multiple categories, relevant results would be analyzed in all applicable areas. Additionally, papers were separated and analyzed by country of origin, preclinical or clinical interventional basis, and quantitative versus qualitative form of statistical analysis. A total of 115 papers from 26 different countries and regions were included in the final analysis. 91.4% of papers analyzing Lecture and Small Group Discussions indicated a positive impact. 97.1% of papers analyzing Clinical Practice and Simulation indicated a positive impact. 100% of papers analyzing Early Experience and Mentorship, Summer Programs and Voluntary Electives, use of Multidisciplinary Teams, and Role Play stated that these methods had a positive impact. 50% of papers analyzing Computer/Web Based Programs indicated a positive impact. Clinical Practice and Simulation, Role Play, Summer/Elective Programs and interventions involving Multidisciplinary Team Work all appeared to be most effective. Intensive Block Programs, Didactic Lectures/Small Group Discussions, and Computer/Web Based Education tools as a whole were variable. General Review papers showed continued variability in domestic and international oncology curricula. Incorporation of effective teaching interventions should be highly considered in the future creation of standardized oncology curricula in order to best prepare the next generation of physicians. Future studies could explore the differing efficacies of teaching interventions in the postgraduate versus graduate realms.
Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 2013
Background Cancer specialists require an understanding of survivors' needs to insure optimal delivery of care. Training programs currently focus on treatment, while survivorship care focuses on time after treatment. Cancer survivorship training represents an education paradigm shift. Methods The Cancer Survivorship Workshop was held at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center of the University of Rochester in academic year 2011-2012, with six sessions held. Objectives included the following: learning about survivorship from patient, primary care physician, and oncologist perspectives using a curriculum based on survivorship literature; designing treatment summaries (TSs) and survivorship care plans (SCPs) for five malignancies (lung, breast, prostate, colon, and lymphoma); and establishing collaboration between hematology/oncology (HO) and radiation oncology (RO) trainees by working together in teams. Course impact was assessed pre-and post-training using a 13-question survey. Questions were answered using a 10-point scale, with predefined rating for each question. Results Statistically significant differences in responses to several survey questions were observed comparing pre-and post-course experience. Improvement was noted in comfort discussing survivorship issues with patients (p =0.001), reported knowledge of survivorship care for five types of cancer (p =0.002), confidence in ability to explain a SCP (p =0.001), and comfort discussing late effects of cancer treatment (p = 0.001). Five unique sets of TS and SCPs were completed. Conclusions This study demonstrates the feasibility of implementing cancer survivorship education into the curriculum of HO and RO training. Implications for Cancer Survivors The project was designed with intension to optimize survivor care through enhanced provider training.
Patient Education and Counseling, 2011
To evaluate the acceptability and relevance of the Maximizing your Patient Education Skills (MPES) course and to determine whether it significantly improved knowledge regarding patient education (PE) theory, self-assessed PE competencies, and PE skills using case based vignettes. Methods: 1-Group, multi-site, pre-post-intervention. Participants completed a pre-assessment (T1), participated in the 4-h MPES course, and then a 3-month post-assessment (T2). A focus group was conducted with subset of participants. Results: 98 (75%) of participants completed both time points. Participants were highly satisfied with MPES and found it to be relevant. Results showed that MPES had a significant impact on all of our outcome measures. Conclusion: Findings from this study show that oncology HCPs knowledge of patient education theory, self-assessed competencies and skills can improve after participating in a brief problem-focused and interactive workshop. Practice implications: Given the evidence that well-planned education and support can contribute to a number of positive health outcomes and the evidence that HCPs may lack the skills to teach and support patients and their families effectively, these results suggest that MPES course may be of value to oncology professionals. Efforts to further develop this course include exploring alternative funding models and using different learning platforms.
MedEdPublish
Rising cancer incidence and increasing complexity of cancer treatments are major challenges for health professionals. Teaching of acute oncology emergencies is an important aspect of undergraduate medical training. At the Leeds Cancer Centre (LCC) we have run medical undergraduate Oncology teaching OSCE sessions for fourth year medical students for the past 6 years. These sessions provide valuable formative assessment and immediate feedback on performance for the students at the end of their oncology and palliative care attachment. Feedback for facilitators from students has consistently been excellent. We feel teaching OSCEs are a useful method of delivering teaching about acute oncology emergencies and assessing performance following a placement within our cancer centre.