Understanding of radiation oncology in sarcoma improved with virtual educational program
A novel virtual educational program for medical students improved perceived knowledge of radiation oncology across a number of different disease sites including breast, sarcoma, central nervous system, pediatrics, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, lymphoma, lung, and head and neck, according to a study.
The Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) fulfills a need for a national medical student education platform for radiation oncology, the authors wrote.
To test the program, 231 students attended >1 of 6 virtual educational panels with case-based discussions across disease sites specifically made for medical students. Sessions were moderated by radiation oncology residents and included faculty panelists.
Of the 231 students who attended a session, 140 completed a post-session survey. The largest group was 4th-year medical students (32%). Overall, 78.8% of attendees had previous exposure to radiation oncology, and 90.6% attended the session for educational reasons, with 30.9% attending for help with specialty selection and 30.4% to network.
All students’ understanding of the role of radiation oncology improved for each disease site after attending each session.
Most attendees said that were considering applying or were likely to apply into radiation oncology both before and following the sessions.
Reference
Kahn JM, Sandhu N, von Eyben R, et al. Radiation oncology virtual education rotation (ROVER) for medical students. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021:S0360-3016(21)00359-X. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.03.057. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33845145.
