Tumor Board Shadowing: A Unique Approach for Integrating Radiation Oncologists Into General Medical Student Education

Abstract

Purpose: Radiation oncology is often overlooked in US medical school curricula, with few opportunities for most students to learn about the specialty or the value of radiation therapy in cancer care. Tumor boards represent a potential avenue not only to increase students' exposure to radiation oncologists but also to provide a fundamental understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of cancer care and effective collaboration in clinical practice. Methods and Materials: In this study, we evaluated a novel radiation oncologist-driven tumor board shadowing experience at 3 medical schools in the United States and Canada. A total of 323 first-and second-year medical students participated, of whom 77.4% completed a follow-up survey assessing the effectiveness of the program as a learning tool. Results: Compared with traditional clinical shadowing, students were more likely to believe that tumor board shadowing provided a similar or better experience in terms of educational content (85%), exposure to a new field (96%), and overall experience (89%). Forty-eight percent of students perceived a greater amount of multidisciplinary collaboration in oncologic care than they thought existed prior to attending. Forty-eight percent of students also felt more competent interacting with oncologists after participating, whereas 21% felt more competent interacting with patients with cancer. Students' perception of increased competence was correlated with the amount of time their assigned physician mentor spent answering their questions after the tumor board (P < .01). Second-year medical students also had a more favorable overall experience than first-year medical students did (P = .04).

A Scoping Review of Radiation Oncology Educational and Career-Planning Interventions in Undergraduate Medical Education

“…Study titles and abstracts were screened, and 509 records were excluded. Full-text review was performed on 34 articles, following which, 25 articles were included for qualitative synthesis [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Table 1 summarizes the review findings by data type.…”

“…Several studies described initiatives that aimed to teach trainees subjects outside of basic sciences. We identified 6 initiatives that taught or evaluated students about the multidisciplinary nature of oncology, including 2 that focused on teaching psychosocial topics in oncology [ 12 , 19 , 20 , 26 , 27 , 33 ]. Five of the 6 initiatives included some form of interactive learning, including role-playing or shadowing.…”

Integrating Radiation Oncology Into Undergraduate Medical Education

“…It also improved their overall experience and competency. 16 Another approach that has been evaluated is designing a novel radiation oncologist-driven tumor board shadowing experience.…”

Impact of Medical Student Participation in Student-Run Clinics on Education, Residency Selection, and Patient Care: A Review of Selected Articles

“…Participation in SRCs is considered extracurricular and students do so on a volunteer basis [2]. Given the depth and complexity of medical education, supplemental experience may augment the learning experience [3][4][5][6]. Studies have shown that early patient exposure and additional clinical experiences can improve student clinical competence [7,8].…”