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A Virtual Curriculum to Increase Exposure to Oncologic Subspecialties for Undergraduate Medical Students

A Virtual Curriculum to Increase Exposure to Oncologic Subspecialties for Undergraduate Medical... Medical student exposure to oncology is imperative given the prevalence of cancer, growing need for survivorship care, and ever-evolving therapies. Our institution offers a Cancer Care Elective for undergraduate medical students focused on clinical shadowing, but the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated completely redesigning a virtual alternative. In this study, we utilize a post-elective survey to 1) assess whether the novel virtual elective effectively promoted student learning and 2) identify which components were most impactful. We created an entirely virtual, semester-long course with structured mentorship, subspecialty panels, physician-led didactics, and patient exposure. Students attended multidisciplinary tumor boards and presented on oncologic topics. A post-elective survey assessed the course’s impact on students’ knowledge and the perceived value of each elective component. Of the 29 enrolled students, 12 responded to our survey (41%). Most students reported that the elective highly enhanced their understanding of medical (67%), surgical (75%), and pediatric (66%) oncology. The highest rated didactic involved patients discussing their cancer journeys, with 80% of students reporting that this session enhanced their understanding of patient–physician collaboration. Students reported that physician mentorship helped them better understand oncology (90%) and promoted interest in pursuing an oncologic career (100%). This study demonstrates that our virtual Cancer Care Elective was effective at increasing student understanding of oncology in practice. The results also suggest that patient exposure and physician mentorship are particularly educational and encouraging. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Cancer Education Springer Journals

A Virtual Curriculum to Increase Exposure to Oncologic Subspecialties for Undergraduate Medical Students

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to American Association for Cancer Education 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
ISSN
0885-8195
eISSN
1543-0154
DOI
10.1007/s13187-022-02220-5
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Medical student exposure to oncology is imperative given the prevalence of cancer, growing need for survivorship care, and ever-evolving therapies. Our institution offers a Cancer Care Elective for undergraduate medical students focused on clinical shadowing, but the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated completely redesigning a virtual alternative. In this study, we utilize a post-elective survey to 1) assess whether the novel virtual elective effectively promoted student learning and 2) identify which components were most impactful. We created an entirely virtual, semester-long course with structured mentorship, subspecialty panels, physician-led didactics, and patient exposure. Students attended multidisciplinary tumor boards and presented on oncologic topics. A post-elective survey assessed the course’s impact on students’ knowledge and the perceived value of each elective component. Of the 29 enrolled students, 12 responded to our survey (41%). Most students reported that the elective highly enhanced their understanding of medical (67%), surgical (75%), and pediatric (66%) oncology. The highest rated didactic involved patients discussing their cancer journeys, with 80% of students reporting that this session enhanced their understanding of patient–physician collaboration. Students reported that physician mentorship helped them better understand oncology (90%) and promoted interest in pursuing an oncologic career (100%). This study demonstrates that our virtual Cancer Care Elective was effective at increasing student understanding of oncology in practice. The results also suggest that patient exposure and physician mentorship are particularly educational and encouraging.

Journal

Journal of Cancer Education – Springer Journals

Published: Sep 23, 2022

Keywords: Cancer Education; Virtual Learning; Virtual Mentorship; Medical Student Mentorship; Undergraduate Medical Elective; Medical Education; Medical Students

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