Abstract
Though the electronic medical record has streamlined the process for ordering chemotherapy and reduced medical error, it has come at the cost of potentially hindering medical oncology fellows’ acquisition of basic principles of chemotherapy administration. Recognizing the need for improving fellow knowledge and comfort level in chemotherapy prescription, we created an anticancer therapeutics curriculum for fellows at the University of North Carolina (UNC). The curriculum, which was comprised of a self-assessment, review session, and chemotherapy writing workshop, was offered voluntarily to all UNC fellows planning to take the medical oncology boards. We distributed a pre-intervention and post-intervention survey. In total, 11 of 18 fellows participated. After our interventions, there were statistically significant improvements in comfortability with calculating a dose of chemotherapy (p = 0.002), writing orders (p = 0.004), and taking the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) In-Training Exam (ITE) (p = 0.002). Furthermore, we saw a 4% overall improvement in pharmacology subset scores on the ITE compared to the prior year. Overall, our study suggested that the addition of a chemotherapy competency curriculum led to improved outcomes on the ASCO ITE, improved comfortability in chemotherapy administration, and hopefully improved patient care.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. JS wrote the manuscript, aided in creation and distribution of the survey, and aided in creation of the self-assessment and review session. SCG aided in creation of and distribution of the survey and in creation of the self-assessment and review session. FC oversaw our work, identified the research question, and aided in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Sorah, J.D., Clark-Garvey, S. & Collichio, F.A. Brief Report: Improving Fellow Performance of the Pharmacology Section of the American Society of Clinical Oncology In-Training Exam. J Canc Educ 38, 141–145 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-021-02089-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-021-02089-w