Developing a Cancer Survivorship Curriculum for Family Medicine Residents: A Needs Assessment

Jane R Schubart,Niraj J Gusani,Peter Lewis,Rena Kass

doi:10.11114/jets.v1i1.30

Jane R Schubart, Niraj J Gusani + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v1i1.30

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Abstract

With the increasing survival of cancer patients, primary care residents must be familiar with the late effects of cancer treatment and be able to offer appropriate survivorship care in partnership with cancer care specialists. To address these paired public health and educational needs, an interdisciplinary group at our institution is developing, implementing, and evaluating an online cancer survivorship curriculum for primary care residents. In the development phase of our survivorship curriculum we administered an online needs assessment survey questionnaire and conducted a focus group interview with the family medicine residents at our institution. Residents indicated that they rarely utilized survivorship care plans or explicitly negotiated a program of shared patient care with the patient’s cancer specialists. Less than satisfactory elements of cancer survivorship education were identified. Cancer survivorship care is common in family medicine residency care and opportunities exist to improve education, care, and collaboration.

Highlights

It is estimated that 13.7 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive on January 1, 2012, and that number is expected to approach 18 million by 2022 (Siegel et al, 2012)
Because the majority of cancer survivors are over age 65, survivorship often occurs against a background setting of comorbid medical conditions (Ogle, Swanson, Woods, & Azzouz, 2000) with care provided by primary care physicians
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and others (United States President’s Cancer Panel, 2004) have examined the range of medical and psychosocial issues faced by adult cancer survivors, and several oncology-related organizations (e.g., American Society of Clinical Oncology) have developed clinical guidelines to ensure that cancer survivors receive adequate follow-up care

Summary

Introduction

It is estimated that 13.7 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive on January 1, 2012, and that number is expected to approach 18 million by 2022 (Siegel et al, 2012). The IOM and others (United States President’s Cancer Panel, 2004) have examined the range of medical and psychosocial issues faced by adult cancer survivors, and several oncology-related organizations (e.g., American Society of Clinical Oncology) have developed clinical guidelines to ensure that cancer survivors receive adequate follow-up care. These guidelines include protocols for follow-up and testing, it is not clear how to transfer and coordinate survivorship care to primary care physicians in the community where most cancer survivors are being treated (Nissen et al, 2007). While medical school curricula and residency training have traditionally focused on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and more recently on its prevention, few have focused on the long-term care of cancer survivors (Ludmerer, 2000; Stoeckle, 2000)

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