Feasibility and Outcomes of Oncology Teaching for 5th Year Medical Students

This study explored medical students’ opinions of undergraduate oncology teaching, aiming to define optimal strategies for nonspecialist oncology teaching. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Al Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Between August 2014 and June 2015, 124 medical students completing the oncology course in the fifth year at the College of Medicine, Al Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University, were given a 47-item questionnaire. One hundred and five students completed the questionnaire. Students reported that the oncology teaching fitted well with the course and that they gained knowledge and clinical skills, including understanding of how to break bad news. There was no consensus regarding whether physicians had an ongoing responsibility of care if patients were unable to embrace the treatment offered and whether pain was adequately controlled in patients with cancer. There was good understanding of the ethics of analgesia use and the need to involve patients in the decision-making process. There was a wide spread of opinion when asked if the physician should “decide for themselves how much information to give.” Forty-four percent of students stated that they would attend an oncology summer school. This study shows the undergraduate oncology course to be effective in teaching knowledge, ethics, and skills and to be well received by fifth year medical students. Inclusion of appropriate teaching in medical school curricula may be the most effective way to ensure all clinicians acquire appropriate training in oncology.