title: The Minimum Competences in Non-surgical Oncology that Medical Students Need to Acquire in Order to be Safe Foundation Year 1 (F1) Doctors: A Delphi Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a consensus on the minimum competences in non-surgical oncology that medical students need to acquire in order to be safe Foundation Year 1 (F1) doctors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A two-round Delphi survey was conducted by e-mail with an expert panel of 24 consultant oncologists who had expressed an interest in undergraduate education.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate to round 1, which asked panellists to list the competences they thought were important, was 50%. The competences they generated contained 86 different concepts. These were categorised according to the learning outcomes in Tomorrow's Doctors. The panellists were then asked to rate the importance of each proposed competence between 1 and 9 on a Likert scale to give a measure of the perceived importance and consensus. The panellists generated competences in all the main categories of learning outcomes in Tomorrow's Doctors. The scores were highest and the consensus greatest for those competences related to the doctor as a practitioner and the doctor as a professional.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Delphi survey was an effective method of obtaining the judgement of an expert panel and in measuring the degree of consensus. The results of the survey were valuable in informing the design of a UK non-surgical oncology curriculum.
authors.affiliation: Gloucestershire Oncology Centre, Cheltenham General Hospital, Cheltenham, UK. Electronic address: kim.benstead@glos.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Benstead
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palmieri
authors.affiliation: Velindre Hospital, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brewster
authors.affiliation: Leeds Cancer Centre, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gilson
authors.affiliation: Gloucestershire Oncology Centre, Cheltenham General Hospital, Cheltenham, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.affiliation: Royal College of Radiologists, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Booth
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003697:Delphi Technique; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Curriculum; Delphi; education; oncology; undergraduate