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A New Remote Classroom Approach to Contouring Training for Pelvic Malignancies in Low- to Middle-Income Asian
Yilan Liu1, Caroline Carlson2, Gregorius B Prajogi3
1Radiation Oncology, University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, USA.
Background And Purpose:
The feasibility, learner interest, and educational impact of online contouring training in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Asia have not been documented on a large participant scale; hence, we aimed to investigate these factors while conducting a training program in contouring pelvic malignancies.
Materials And Methods:
A 10-session contouring course was offered to primarily radiation oncologists in Southeast Asia (SEA) via Zoom (Zoom Communications, Inc., San Jose, USA). The curriculum included case-based learning and supplemental reading materials focusing on common contouring scenarios and errors. Participation and pre- and post-program surveys, including demographics, confidence scores, a 10-question contouring knowledge test, and anonymous feedback, were recorded and analyzed. Changes in pre- and post-program scores were evaluated using a paired t-test.
Results:
A total of 276 physicians participated in the curriculum, with 144 participants completing pre- and post-confidence score surveys and knowledge tests. The attendance for each session averaged 140 (range 115-158). Among paired participants, mean confidence scores increased from 2.92 to 3.67 out of 5 (+26.28%, p<0.01) and were significantly improved across all disease sites (range +21.5% to +34.1%). Mean knowledge test scores increased from 4.47 to 6.53 out of 10 (+46.2%, p<0.01). The average likelihood of recommending this training program to another colleague was 9.63 out of 10.
Conclusions:
The pelvic malignancies contouring training program, which focused on avoiding common errors, resulted in robust participation, significant improvements in confidence and knowledge scores, and excellent course recommendation scores. This strategy could potentially be replicated for continuous medical education, scaled to other countries, and applied to other cancer disease sites in the future.
