Multidisciplinary cancer care requires integration of teaching across established educational boundaries. As exposure to oncology and radiation oncology is limited in the undergraduate medical education curriculum, we introduced an Oncology Education Initiative. We report on the addition of structured multidisciplinary oncology education to the required radiology core clerkship at our Institution.
Materials/Methods
We conducted an institutional based cohort study of fourth-year medical students rotating through a required clerkship in radiology at our Institution beginning with the class of 2007. An educational questionnaire measuring perceived quality of oncology education prior to and following exposure to a structured didactic program.
Results
Of the 149 fourth-year students, 82 (55%) have completed the clerkship to date. While 28 of 82 (34%) of students reported having limited exposure to cancer care in the clinical years, 76 of 82 (93%) were motivated to learn more about the subject and 69 of 82 (84%) reported a better understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of cancer care following this oncology education initiative. Seventy-four of 82 (90%) felt that the radiology clerkship was an opportune time to receive oncology and radiation oncology teaching. As a result of the initiative, nearly one third of the students not applying for a radiation oncology residency elected to rotate through the department for advanced on-site training in the field.
Conclusions
Systematic exposure to multidisciplinary oncology education as part of a radiology core clerkship provides an excellent opportunity for integrated teaching of oncologic principles and patient management. This type of experience addresses an important yet underrepresented component of undergraduate medical education.
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