An Increase in Medical Student Knowledge of Radiation Oncology: A Pre-Post Examination Analysis of the Oncology Education Initiative

Journal Article · Sun Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2008.12.012· OSTI ID:21172657

Hirsch, Ariel E ^[1]; Mulleady Bishop, Pauline ^[2]; Dad, Luqman ^[3]; Singh, Deeptej ^[4]; Slanetz, Priscilla J ^[5]

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1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA (United States)
2. Department of Radiology, Boston University Medical Center, and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA (United States)
3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY (United States)
4. Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA (United States)
5. Department of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States)

Purpose: The Oncology Education Initiative was created to advance oncology and radiation oncology education by integrating structured didactics into the existing core radiology clerkship. We set out to determine whether the addition of structured didactics could lead to a significant increase in overall medical student knowledge about radiation oncology. Methods and Materials: We conducted a pre- and posttest examining concepts in general radiation oncology, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. The 15-question, multiple-choice exam was administered before and after a 1.5-hour didactic lecture by an attending physician in radiation oncology. Individual question changes, overall student changes, and overall categorical changes were analyzed. All hypothesis tests were two-tailed (significance level 0.05). Results: Of the 153 fourth-year students, 137 (90%) took the pre- and posttest and were present for the didactic lecture. The average test grade improved from 59% to 70% (p = 0.011). Improvement was seen in all questions except clinical vignettes involving correct identification of TNM staging. Statistically significant improvement (p {<=} 0.03) was seen in the questions regarding acute and late side effects of radiation, brachytherapy for prostate cancer, delivery of radiation treatment, and management of early-stage breast cancer. Conclusions: Addition of didactics in radiation oncology significantly improves medical students' knowledge of the topic. Despite perceived difficulty in teaching radiation oncology and the assumption that it is beyond the scope of reasonable knowledge for medical students, we have shown that even with one dedicated lecture, students can learn and absorb general principles regarding radiation oncology.

• OSTI ID: 21172657
• Journal Information: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Journal Name: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 73; ISSN IOBPD3; ISSN 0360-3016
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
BRACHYTHERAPY
CARCINOMAS
LECTURES
MAMMARY GLANDS
PROSTATE
SIDE EFFECTS