Impact of the University of Louisville Cancer Education Program

Cancer remains a significant public health challenge that requires a multidisciplinary workforce equipped with strong cancer research skills and clinical insight. Over the past decade, the University of Louisville's Cancer Education Program was developed to enhance career trajectories in oncology through a mentored cancer research experience for both professional and college students.In a structured 10-week program, trainees participated in hypothesis-driven cancer research, received multilevel mentoring, and engaged in career-enhancement activities. We evaluated de-identified participant feedback on interest in cancer research, mentoring, career-enhancement activities, cancer survivors' testimonials, and research self-efficacy. Qualitative assessments were rated on scales of quality (excellent to unsatisfactory) and change (very large to no change). To assess interest in cancer research before and after the program, we used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Comparisons of various program components were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis test. We summarized emerging themes from open-ended survey questions.Participants demonstrated a significant increase in their interest in cancer research (P < 0.0001) following the program, and multilevel mentoring contributed to improvements in research self-efficacy. Compared with a seminar, participants preferred cancer survivors' testimonials (P < 0.0001), as these humanized cancer research and motivated them to pursue careers in cancer research and clinical oncology. Lastly, structured workshops and peer-to-peer interactive learning increased participants' confidence in communicating science to mixed audiences.Our program results underscore the importance of investing in initiatives to develop a robust and capable cancer research workforce that addresses evolving challenges in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.