) Cancer continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. Although cancer prevention, screening and early detection are among the best ways to reduce cancer mortality, they are not systematically taught or reinforced in the medical school curriculum. The overall goal of this project is to develop, implement, and evaluate a Cancer Prevention Elective for second-year medical students at Baylor College of Medicine plus low-cost educational reinforcement for follow-up through their clinical years. Content for the elective will be correlated with required preclinical curriculum elements the students already experience. Differences between the Intervention and Comparison Groups (i.e., students who do or do not take the elective) regarding knowledge, attitudes and skills related to cancer prevention, screening, and early detection will be measured on the basis of cancer-related elements of: (1) a semiannual Preventive Medicine Survey, (2) final exam for the Cancer Prevention Elective, (3) periodic Objective Structured Clinical Examinations evaluations in the clinical years, (4) Clinical Experiences Log, and (5) a 4th-year Clinical Proficiency Examination.
The Specific Aims of the project are to: (1) Develop, pilot test, and revise course materials for the Cancer Prevention Elective and follow-up educational reinforcement, (2) Implement the elective three times over the three years of the project, and (3) Follow elective and non-elective students over two years to compare their cancer prevention, screening and early detection knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Educational content for the course will come from existing sources, e.g., the Put Prevention into Practice program, the American Cancer Society, the Physician Oncology Education Program of the Texas Medical Association, and the NCI-funded CATCHUM project. Regarding format of the elective, Problem Based Learning has evolved as an instructional modality that encourages independent learning and critical thinking such that basic science knowledge is better integrated with clinical problem solving. This results in increased student interest, self-directed learning, interest in subject matter, and retention of knowledge. Hence, it is hypothesized that the Intervention Group will have higher scores on measures of knowledge, attitudes and skills related to cancer prevention, screening and early detection due to an educational intervention which uses the Put Prevention Into Practice model and materials, Problem Based Learning methods, and systematic, coordinated follow-up reinforcement.
