title: Impact of Curriculum Content on Resident Attitudes Towards Cancer Care.
abstract: Residents' clinical and educational experiences affect their views of patient care and their ability to estimate prognosis. We conducted a randomized pilot study to determine if an educational session could influence internal medicine (IM) residents' interest in oncology and their ability to accurately determine the prognosis of cancer patients. We randomized 29 IM residents to attend either a traditional American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) oncology review lecture focusing on cancer complications or a lecture reviewing landmark studies that are the basis of common cancer treatments and prognoses. On the post-lecture questionnaire, residents' interest in oncology and their overall performance on knowledge assessments were similar. However, more residents attending the traditional ABIM lecture inappropriately withdrew care for patients with potentially treatable conditions. Prognostication is an important skill for IM residents, and inaccurate negative biases could potentially lead to serious errors in clinical judgment. Further study is needed with a larger sample size and a more extensive academic curriculum to further assess and improve this skill.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA. tlycan@wakehealth.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lycan
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA.
authors.forename: Kristopher
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: Evidence-based medicine; Internal medicine; Medical education; Oncology; Residency