Medical student teaching in the UK: how well are newly qualified doctors prepared for their role caring for patients with cancer in hospital?

Abstract

A number of studies have identified problems with undergraduate oncology teaching. We have investigated how well prepared newly qualified doctors (first foundation year, or FY1 doctors) are for treating patients with cancer. Twenty-five FY1 doctors and 15 senior doctors participated in interviews. We turned the emergent themes into a questionnaire for all 5143 UK FY1 doctors in 2005. The response rate was 43% (2062 responses). Sixty-one percent of FY1 doctors had received oncology teaching at medical school, but 31% recalled seeing fewer than 10 patients with cancer. Forty percent of FY1 doctors felt prepared for looking after patients with cancer. Sixty-five percent felt prepared for diagnosing cancer, 15% felt they knew enough about chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and 11% felt prepared for dealing with oncological emergencies. Respondents believed medical students should learn about symptom control (71%) and communication skills (41%). Respondents who had received oncology teaching were more likely to feel prepared for looking after patients with cancer (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.14 -2.04). Preparedness also correlated with exposure to patients with cancer (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.22 -1.79). We have found worryingly low levels of exposure of medical students to patients with cancer. First foundation year doctors lack knowledge about cancer care and symptom control. Oncologists should maintain involvement in undergraduate teaching, and encourage greater involvement of patients in this teaching.

Oncology Education in Canadian Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical Programs: A Survey of Educators and Learners

“…By contrast, we obtained response rates of 41% and 76% for fm and im training program directors, whom we were able to contact directly. The 34% response rate from medical students is consistent with rates in other multi-institutional undergraduate oncology education surveys 12 . However, despite the lower response rates from some groups, we were able to summarize the experiences and opinions of 677 educators and learners in Canada.…”

“…We were not able to obtain responses from educators and learners in all Canadian medical schools and residency training programs. Response rates from certain groups of educators and learners in the medical training programs that we were able to survey were lower than those in other studies 3,12 . Response rates from umeccms and oncologists were lower because we were not allowed to contact those groups directly and had to rely on a third party to forward the survey link and subsequent reminder message.…”

“…That study, which was conducted by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, found that only 41% of schools had a curriculum in oncology 11 . A more recent study from the United Kingdom showed that new graduates from U.K. medical schools lacked adequate knowledge about cancer and symptom control 12 . Only 40% of respondents felt prepared to look after patients with cancer, and 61% would have preferred more teaching in oncology.…”

Factors that influence first year medical students’ choice of student selected component

“…Studies exploring the introduction of SSCs into medical school curricula have mostly taken place at the level of the outcomes of a particular SSC (Fletcher & Aguis 1995;Downie et al 1997;Lazarus & Rosslyn 2003;Cave et al 2007) or have analysed the development of, for example, transferable skills during SSCs ( Jha et al 2002;Gill et al 2008). The ad hoc development of the SSC programme by medical schools since its inception means that the drivers for students in choosing what to study have yet to be examined.…”

Influence of Student Selected Components on Medical Career Choice

“…The role of medical schools is to form a pool of graduates who are not only competent and professional doctors but also match the contemporary needs of the healthcare service. Therefore, informing career choice and helping with career decision-making are increasingly important roles that The SSCs, which are an intrinsic curricular component in all medical schools across the UK (Riley 2009), are excellent opportunities for in-depth learning and exploring specialties that are either covered superficially or completely overlooked by the core curriculum (Cave et al 2007). This role of SSCs in providing career exploration was recognised in the second edition of Tomorrow's Doctors, which established that SSCs 'must allow students to consider career paths' (GMC 2003), and gaining a deeper insight into some medical specialties can be the chief motivation underlying student's choice of SSCs (O'Tuathaigh et al 2012).…”