Impact of skin cancer education on medical students' diagnostic skills

Abstract

Skin cancer is increasingly common, and the skills involved in its diagnosis should be promoted in UK medical schools. However, there has been no scientific evaluation of the teaching methods employed by dermatology departments. The aim of this study was to evaluate, using traditional audiovisual methods, the impact of an illustrated booklet on skin cancer, coupled with a lecture, on undergraduates' diagnostic skills. The ability of 27 final-year medical students to recognize a variety of skin lesions, using projected images from clinical slides, was assessed. They were tested without warning on two occasions. Immediately after the first test, students were given an illustrated booklet on skin tumours and pigmented lesions which was supplemented with a lecture based on the booklet. Two weeks later, a second test was employed using a series of slides deemed to be of equal diagnostic difficulty. Our results showed a significant increase in the median number of correct diagnoses between the first and second tests (P < 0.001). However, there remained wide variation at the second test in the percentage of correct answers (30 to 80%) amongst students. Our study highlights the need to develop effective methods for improving the diagnostic skills of undergraduates in dermatology, and the importance of evaluating teaching methods. The methods of evaluation, such as ours, can be simple and inexpensive.

The eDerm online curriculum: A randomized study of effective skin cancer teaching to medical students

“…10,15 Studies have shown that we cannot rely on traditional clerkships alone to teach necessary skills to medical students for the diagnosis and management of skin lesions. 16,17 Although students' diagnostic skills have been shown to improve with various teaching interventions, 16,18,19 there remains a wide variation in learning among students, highlighting the inherent difficulty in effectively teaching diagnostic skills. 16,18 Students judged teaching methods as most effective when they were visual and interactive, suggesting that these attributes are critical to learning dermatology.…”

“…16,17 Although students' diagnostic skills have been shown to improve with various teaching interventions, 16,18,19 there remains a wide variation in learning among students, highlighting the inherent difficulty in effectively teaching diagnostic skills. 16,18 Students judged teaching methods as most effective when they were visual and interactive, suggesting that these attributes are critical to learning dermatology. 20,21 Specifically, students have stressed the importance of interactive teaching in improving skin cancer education in US medical schools, 22 and strongly support the development of teaching resources on the World Wide Web for learning dermatology.…”

Diagnosis of Skin Lesions by Trainee Surgeons: Experience Improves Accuracy

“…Carli et al 9 found a 4-h formal training session given to family doctors showed improvements in correct melanoma diagnosis rates; other studies have demonstrated similar improvements following skin cancer educational programmes. 10,11 However,m ost of these studies have taken place over short periods only and focused on general practitionersa nd medical students rather than specialists in training. Gachon et al 12 suggested that clinicians most skilled in the diagnosis of melanoma rely on as ubconscious comparison with the patient's remaining common naevi (the so-called 'ugly duckling sign') rather than alearned algorithm of morphologic criteria.…”

Teaching and Learning in Dermatology: From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg via Way of Von Hebra

“…There * is seemingly a clear conflict between the economics of course delivery and individual learning. A variant of this problem is the belief that 'brief interventions' will change clinical behaviour (36). For instance, studies are reported showing (for example) that exposing a group of'GPs to a seminar on skin cancer improves factual knowledge in the short term (37).…”