Junior Doctor Evaluation of Radiation Oncology Education and Training in Medical Schools and Prevocational Training in Australia

Chelvarajah, Revadhi; Windsor, Apsara; Nicholls, Luke; Bravery, Ben; Shi, Kate; Turner, Susan; Tieu, Minh Thi

doi:10.1007/s13187-019-01678-0

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…3 We recognise the barriers to implementation of new RO curricular content including competition for available teaching time, access to outpatient department settings and limited RO involvement in medical school teaching. [2][3][4] A study by Mattes and colleagues demonstrated similar challenges in the United States. They found in a survey of over 50 RO facilities that only the minority reported radiation oncologists directly contributing to medical school teaching.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…We recognise the barriers to implementation of new RO curricular content including competition for available teaching time, access to outpatient department settings and limited RO involvement in medical school teaching 2–4 . A study by Mattes and colleagues demonstrated similar challenges in the United States.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The JMOs in Chelvarajah and colleagues' study self-reported that 91.9% cared for RO patients on the ward and 66.3% needed to arrange consultation with RO teams. 4 Thus, basic knowledge of radiation therapy amongst medical students and qualified doctors is out of step with the common prevalence of cancer and the frequency with which they will encounter patients undergoing radiation therapy. The findings of this study suggested that students were aware of this gap in their curriculum and eager to address it.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies of medical students and junior doctors in Australia, New Zealand, and around the world conclude that, despite changes to the medical school curriculum over the last 20 years, there remain clear gaps in knowledge and confidence in RO as a result of ongoing inadequacies in oncology education. [2][3][4] These deficits potentially carry through to inadequate knowledge for the duration of doctors' careers, regardless of their specialty including those in general practice, with major consequences in treatment outcomes for cancer patients. 5 There is very limited evidence for systematic evaluations of medical student oncology education interventions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving medical student education in radiation oncology: Integrating and evaluating an experiential interdisciplinary workshop into the medical student curriculum

et al. 2022

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Introduction To evaluate a novel interactive educational workshop designed to improve medical student knowledge and awareness of radiation oncology (RO). Method A 2.5‐h pilot workshop in RO was introduced in 2018 for one teaching hospital cohort of postgraduate medical students. Students participated in a voluntary interactive programme of learning ‘stations’ situated in the RO department, introducing students to practical aspects of RO planning, delivery and patient care. Students were surveyed before and immediately after the workshop to assess their perceptions of its educational value and the impact on RO knowledge and awareness. Results Forty‐four of 51 students participated in the RO workshop with 44 students (100%) completing the preworkshop survey and 38 students completing postworkshop survey (86%). Twenty‐three of 44 students had prior RO teaching, and 11/23 students (48%) had received between 30 and 60 min of teaching with only 4/44 (9%) confident in their knowledge of RO. Following the workshop, 22/38 (58%) felt their knowledge now met expectations for their level of training. Preworkshop, objective RO knowledge was low, regarding optimal use of RT (25%) and bone pain response (41%) and improved to 100% and 86% respectively. Overall, feedback around workshop value was highly positive with regard to enjoyment (97%) and students commented on the enthusiasm and multidisciplinarity of teachers. Conclusion There remain large gaps in medical student knowledge and confidence in RO, and intervention is necessary to address these discrepancies. A novel interactive RO workshop for medical students has demonstrated improved awareness and knowledge with high levels of self‐reported learner satisfaction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving medical student education in radiation oncology: Integrating and evaluating an experiential interdisciplinary workshop into the medical student curriculum

et al. 2022

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“…This is especially relevant for radiation oncology, where there have been significant advances in technology but a lack of exposure to radiation oncology both in the medical school curriculum and at the prevocational level. 13,14 At the vocational level, a radiation oncology component was only recently incorporated into the USANZ curriculum. This gap in education may be reflected in our finding that potential contraindications to radiotherapy did not correlate with the likelihood of referral.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Referral to radiation oncology prior to prostatectomy: Referral rates in a New Zealand tertiary Centre

Xu-Holland

Kain

2022

J Med Imag Rad Onc

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Background Radical prostatectomy and radical radiotherapy have equivalent survival outcomes in the treatment of localised prostate cancer but differing side‐effect profiles. The 2018 Faculty of Radiation Oncology of the Royal Australasian College of Radiologists (RANZCR) position statement recommends that patients have the opportunity to discuss all suitable treatment options, ideally with the relevant specialist. This study aimed to determine the number and characteristics of men referred to radiation oncology before undergoing radical prostatectomy in the years immediately preceding the 2018 RANZCR position statement. Methods The electronic records of all men who underwent a radical prostatectomy in the Auckland region between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2017 were retrospectively reviewed for documentation of a referral or offer of referral to radiation oncology, or multidisciplinary meeting (MDM) consensus for surgery before prostatectomy. Patient and tumour variables were collected. Results Between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2017, 234 patients underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer in the wider Auckland region. Before undergoing prostatectomy, 89 of 234 patients (38.0%) were referred, offered but declined referral, or had MDM consensus for surgery. Age and urologist were most strongly correlated with the primary outcome; those offered referral were older than those who were not (P = 0.030). The practice of one urologist was an outlier, referring or recommending referral to 92.3% of patients (P < 0.0001). Conclusion These results provide a benchmark for future studies assessing referral practices following the RANZCR position statement, and suggest a need for further education and advocacy regarding the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of localised prostate cancer.

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Radiation oncology teaching provision and practice prior to and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in medical schools in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: a cross-sectional survey

Walls

Houlihan²,

Mooney

et al. 2021

BJR

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Objectives: Radiotherapy is a key cancer treatment modality but is poorly understood by doctors. We sought to evaluate radiation oncology (RO) teaching in medical schools within the United Kingdom (UK) and Republic of Ireland (RoI), as well as any impacts on RO teaching delivery from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: A bespoke online survey instrument was developed, piloted and distributed to oncology teaching leads at all UK and RoI medical schools. Questions were designed to capture information on the structure, format, content and faculty for RO teaching, as well as both the actual and the predicted short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19. Results: Responses were received from 29/41 (71%) UK and 5/6 (83%) RoI medical schools. Pre-clinical and clinical oncology teaching was delivered over a median of 2 weeks (IQR 1–6), although only 9 (27%) of 34 responding medical schools had a standalone RO module. RO teaching was most commonly delivered in clinics or wards (n = 26 and 25 respectively). Few medical schools provided teaching on the biological basis for radiotherapy (n = 11) or the RO career pathway (n = 8), and few provide teaching delivered by non-medical RO multidisciplinary team members. There was evidence of short- and long-term disruption to RO teaching from COVID-19. Conclusions: RO teaching in the UK and RoI is limited with minimal coverage of relevant theoretical principles and little exposure to radiotherapy departments and their non-medical team members. The COVID-19 pandemic risks exacerbating trainee doctors’ already constrained exposure to radiotherapy. Advances in knowledge: This study provides the first analysis of radiotherapy-related teaching in the UK and RoI, and the first to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on radiationoncology teaching.

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Junior Doctor Evaluation of Radiation Oncology Education and Training in Medical Schools and Prevocational Training in Australia

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Improving medical student education in radiation oncology: Integrating and evaluating an experiential interdisciplinary workshop into the medical student curriculum

Improving medical student education in radiation oncology: Integrating and evaluating an experiential interdisciplinary workshop into the medical student curriculum

Referral to radiation oncology prior to prostatectomy: Referral rates in a New Zealand tertiary Centre

Radiation oncology teaching provision and practice prior to and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in medical schools in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: a cross-sectional survey

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