The long-term goal is to provide all medical students, residents and subspecialty trainees with a level of knowledge of cancer appropriate to their status and future professional activities in addition to providing in-depth experiences to motivated medical students. We plan to accomplish these goals by providing 1) all medical students with a core curriculum in cancer during their 1st two years and 3rd year students with knowledge of clinical aspects of more common cancers and principles of diagnosis and treatment using an interdisciplinary approach; 2) a focal point on an interdisciplinary oncology ward for demonstration and teaching of quality multidisciplinary management of cancer patients teaching techniques of clinical research; 3) a cancer research experience for 13 weeks to medical students between their 1st and 2nd years emphasizing experimental approach and application of scientific method, skills in carrying out investigations, principles of data gathering, storage, processing, interpreting results, organizing and writing scientific papers relating to aspects of cancer and imparting to the student general information about cause and prevention of cancer and value of early diagnosis; 4) a clinical cancer experience for 4 weeks to medical students between their 2nd and 3rd years learning to relate to patients with cancer, their special problems, natural history of cancer and approach to diagnosis, staging and interdisciplinary management, discipline of clinical trials and acquiring information about cause and prevention of cancer and value of early diagnosis; 5) a multidisciplinary oncology elective to students of the health professions with an opportunity to learn biologic, carcinogenic, epidemiologic, metabolic and risk factor aspects of cancer, the development and evaluation of cancer prevention, detection, screening programs and studies in cancer, the impact of cancer and the formulation of national health policy to deal with the cancer problem; 6) a tumor biology course to subspecialty trainees with an understanding of major basic science foundations of cancer, cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, staging, management, treatment and to inculcate critical attitude toward medical literature; 7) a hospice education program to develop strategies in dealing with support and symptoms control for patient dying of cancer, support for families, recognizing tensions between medical intervention and palliative care and dealing with stresses placed on health care providers.
