Teaching Skin Cancer Detection to Medical Students Using a Dermoscopic Algorithm

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Dermatology
• Oncology

Background:

• Early detection of melanoma is crucial for improving patient survival rates.
• Dermoscopy, particularly with the triage amalgamated dermoscopic algorithm (TADA), demonstrates high accuracy in identifying malignant skin neoplasms.
• Current training focuses on practicing clinicians, with less emphasis on medical students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of TADA dermoscopy training among medical students.
• To compare the performance of medical students with practicing clinicians after TADA training.
• To assess the potential of incorporating TADA training into the medical school curriculum.

Main Methods:

• A 90-minute workshop incorporating the TADA framework was delivered to family physicians, residents, and medical students.
• The workshop included didactic learning on skin lesion features and hands-on dermoscopy practice.
• Participants completed a 30-image pretest and a different 30-image posttest to assess knowledge acquisition.

Main Results:

• Participants included 46 attending physicians, 25 residents, and 48 medical students.
• All groups showed significant improvement in test scores after the workshop (P<.001).
• Medical students demonstrated the greatest gain in scores, performing comparably to physicians on the posttest.

Conclusions:

• Short-term dermoscopy workshops effectively train medical students to identify malignant skin lesions.
• Dermoscopy training, using TADA, can be a valuable addition to medical school curricula.
• This skill is beneficial for primary care physicians and various specialists who encounter skin lesions.