This five year project, designed to meet the oncology education needs of undergraduate Medical students at the State University of New York at Buffalo, builds upon an existing program developed over the past five years. It is placed largely outside the core curriculum and complementary to it. Students will obtain factual knowledge of basic cancer biology and an appreciation for how research, epidemiology, prevention, and nutrition influence the clinical management of cancer patients. In this proposal, year programs are comprised of a series of special Oncology selectives, electives, and student assistantships. An inter-year program, of direct benefit to all students will include restructuring of the Buffalo Cancer Syllabus, an Oncology Resource library, and self-instructional module development. Integration of nutrition, epidemiology and prevention concepts, in all programs, will be a major goal. Systematic evaluation will be carried out. The first year program consists of selectives and case presentations which may accommodate at least one-third of the entering Freshman class. The selectives, one in general oncology, one in cancer prevention, will consist of seminars and group discussions focusing on issues such as basic biology, clinical presentation, prevention, epidemiology, and nutrition in cancer. Interdisciplinary case presentations will be open to all students. The second year program will consist of student assistantships in the summers preceding or following the sophomore year and will focus on research methodologies applied to both the basic and clinical investigation of cancer. The third year program will build upon established cancer, and cancer prevention, selectives in which students are exposed to basic research and clinical problems that directly inter-relate. To attract senior students, the fourth year program will consist of oncology electives reorganized to present relevant meterial. A new oncology elective will focus on the care of the ambulatory cancer patient, including various support needs and community resources. This new elective will be coordinated with a number of community support and a cancer prevention program coordinated through a regional HMO. The Buffalo Cancer Syllabus, developed during the previous grant, will be modified to meet the special needs of junior and senior medical students and special nutrition, prevention, and epidemiology sections will be developed. An oncology education resource library will be developed for use by students and faculty.
| Peters, A S; Schimpfhauser, F T; Cheng, J et al. (1987) Effect of a course in cancer prevention on students' attitudes and clinical behavior. J Med Educ 62:592-600 |
| Peters, A S; Schimpfhauser, F T; Wright, J R et al. (1986) Effect of a cancer education program on student interest and learning in cancer. J Med Educ 61:163-8 |
