Abstract
Background. Despite recent advances in cancer survivorship knowledge and care, most medical schools lack a comprehensive survivorship curriculum, potentially leaving students ill-prepared for caring of survivors. Methods. A total of 211 students and 22 oncology fellows in 3 institutions completed a questionnaire assessing knowledge and experience in survivorship care. Results. Medical students and oncology fellows lack knowledge in key survivorship issues. Students were exposed to cancer survivors frequently in medical school but only half received instruction or practiced critical components of survivorship care. Conclusions. Improvement of both undergraduate and postgraduate training in survivorship care is urgently warranted.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Cancer Society. Cancer facts and figures 2006. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society. Available at: http://www.cancer.org. Accessed January 28, 2009.
National Cancer Institute. Cancer Survivorship Research Web site. Available at: http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/ocs. Accessed January 28, 2009.
Hudson MM, Mertens AC, Yasui Y, et al. Health status of adult longterm survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study. JAMA. 2003;290:1583–1592.
Langeveld NE, Grootenhuis MA, Voute PA, de Haan RJ. Posttraumatic stress symptoms in adult survivors of childhood cancer. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2004;42:604–610.
Zebrack BJ, Zevon MA, Turk N, et al. Psychological distress in longterm survivors of solid tumors diagnosed in childhood: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007; 49:47–51.
Ganz PA. Monitoring the physical health of cancer survivors: a survivorship-focused medical history. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24:5105–5111.
Hewitt M, Greenfield S, Stovall E. From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition. Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2006.
Ferrell BR, Winn R. Medical and nursing education and training opportunities to improve survivorship care. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24:5142–5148.
David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. Cancer Education Projects. Available at: http://apps.medsch.ucla.edu/cancer/materials.htm. Accessed January 28, 2009.
Wilkerson L, Lee M, Hodgson C. Evaluating curricular effects on medical students’ knowledge and self-perceived skills in cancer prevention. Acad Med. 2002;77:S51-S53.
Wilkerson L, Go VL, Stuber M, Uijtdehaage S. Developing instruments to measure knowledge and experience related to cancer survivorship. J Cancer Educ. 2005;20(suppl 3):16.
Albanese M, Dottl S, Mejicano G, et al. Distorted perceptions of competence and incompetence are more than regression effects. Adv Health Sci Educ. 2006;11:267–278.
Uijtdehaage S, Hauer K, Rajagopalan S, Wilkerson I. Improving knowledge and experience with cancer survivors: effects of a dedicated curriculum. J Cancer Educ. 2007;22(suppl 3):38.
Rowland JH, Hewitt M, Ganz PA. Cancer survivorship: a new challenge in delivering quality cancer care. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24:5101–5104.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, R25 CA096075, 2002–2007 (Principal Investigator: LuAnn Wilkerson).
Presented in part during the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Education, San Diego, October, 12–14, 2006.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uijtdehaage, S., Hauer, K.E., Stuber, M. et al. Preparedness for caring of cancer survivors: A multi-institutional study of medical students and oncology fellows. J Canc Educ 24, 28–32 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1080/08858190802665260
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08858190802665260