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HPV Knowledge Retention and Concurrent Increase in Vaccination Rates 1.5 Years After a Novel HPV Workshop in Medical School

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Abstract

Comprehensive education regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) pathogenesis, vaccination, and patient counseling are not routinely included in the medical school curriculum; consequently, student and provider knowledge, especially concerning head and neck pathology, remains low. The objective of this study was to demonstrate long-term retention of HPV knowledge and positive attitudes towards HPV vaccination after attending our novel HPV workshop, with a focus on knowledge of oropharyngeal cancer. A follow-up survey was administered to medical students 1.5 years after the initial completion of the workshop. HPV vaccination records from the student-led clinic were collected from the immunization information system. Awareness that HPV causes oropharyngeal cancer was present in 33% of medical students pre-curriculum; immediate and long-term post-curricular awareness of this association remained at 90% or higher (p < 0.0001). Comfort with HPV counseling, having enough information to recommend the vaccine, and knowledge of HPV malignancies, symptoms, transmission, and vaccination schedule remained persistently elevated over pre-curriculum scores (p < 0.05). Long-term knowledge scores were also higher than a control group of medical students at the same stage of training who had never participated in the workshop (p < 0.05). HPV vaccination rates at the medical school’s student-run clinic also increased after the curriculum, from an average of 1.89 HPV vaccines given per clinic to 3.55 (p = 0.001). This study demonstrates that knowledge and positive attitudes were maintained 1.5 years after participating in this HPV curriculum during students’ preclinical years of medical school. Additionally, an increase in HPV vaccination rates occurred at a student-led clinic, indicating a positive clinical impact on the curriculum.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, SS.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge funding and assistance from the Office of Medical Research at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, namely Danielle Eaton. Medical students, physicians, and faculty members who assisted in implementation of this workshop include Brady Janes, Eliza Matley, Megan Oberbillig, Jennifer Bennett, and Lindsay Darrow. The authors would also like to acknowledge Keanu McMurray, one of the immunization managers at the student-run clinic.

Funding

Funding was obtained from the Office of Medical Research at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine - Reno, 1664 N Virginia St, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    Sarah Sutton

  2. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Shaghauyegh S. Azar, Lauran K. Evans & Maie St. John

  3. Department of Family Medicine, University of California Irvine - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ariel Murtagh

  4. Department of Family Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine - Reno, Reno, NV, USA

    Catherine McCarthy

Authors
  1. Sarah Sutton
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  3. Lauran K. Evans
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  4. Ariel Murtagh
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  5. Catherine McCarthy
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  6. Maie St. John
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Sarah Sutton, Lauran Evans and Shaghauyegh Azar, and Catherine Mccarthy. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Sarah Sutton, Lauran Evans, Shaghauyegh Azar, and Ariel Murtagh. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Sutton.

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Ethics Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the University of Nevada, Reno.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Sutton, S., Azar, S.S., Evans, L.K. et al. HPV Knowledge Retention and Concurrent Increase in Vaccination Rates 1.5 Years After a Novel HPV Workshop in Medical School. J Canc Educ 38, 240–247 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-021-02106-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-021-02106-y

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