Determining cancer-patient-management educational needs

The authors have proposed a model for curriculum planning and continuing medical education (CME) program development (JCE 4:255-259, 1989.) This paper reports the results of an application of this model. The knowledge examination administered was developed by specialists and family practice physicians, covering four cancer sites and eight cancer-patient management stages. The purpose of this application was to evaluate the model regarding its effectiveness in terms of whether specific core competencies could be identified as the basis for curriculum planning and/or CME program-planning use. It was assumed that data from this assessment could be extrapolated from the residency context to the development of CME programs. A total of 200 respondent reports (interns, residents, faculty) from 15 institutions (medical schools or hospitals) were analyzed. In general, more education improves test scores; faculty (6.5% of the respondents) averaged about 66% correct answers. The highest percentage of correct responses was associated with the site Breast (60%) and the stage Shared Care (70%). The lowest percentage of correct values was associated with the site Colorectal (45%) and the stage Treatment (44%). The pair Colorectal/Treatment produced the lowest percentage of correct answers observed (27%). The proactive model applied in this study was successful regarding determination of core-competency deficiencies. Participant responses were useful for identifying cancer-patient-management core-competency deficiencies, knowledge gaps that could be used for both curriculum planning and CME program development. Residency directors from participating institutions have reported using this information to modify the educational experience of individual residents as well as to modify their cancer program curriculum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)