Development of a palliative care lecture series for hematology-oncology fellows.

Abstract

e24112 Background: Many major organizations endorse provision of palliative care (PC) services for patients with advanced cancers from both oncologists and PC specialists. While ACGME has outlined core PC competencies, PC education during hematology-oncology (HO) fellowship is highly variable, and many fellows feel inadequately trained. We assessed whether incorporation of a PC lecture series could improve fellows’ self-perceived preparedness in basic PC skills. Methods: In this educational quality improvement initiative, current HO fellows at an NCI-designated cancer center received lectures on PC topics. Members of both the HO and hospice and palliative medicine fellowship programs met to discuss key components of a PC curriculum and identify available experts. Seven multidisciplinary faculty members delivered eight one-hour video-recorded virtual lectures to HO fellows over a three-month period. Lecture videos remained available online for later viewing in the event of fellow absences. Within a few weeks both pre- and post-lecture series, HO fellows completed surveys addressing their level of preparedness on a 5-point scale (from 1-not at all prepared to 5-extremely prepared) in performing several key skills. Two-tailed paired t-tests were performed to analyze pre/post changes in fellows’ level of preparedness. Results: Eleven fellows participated in the PC lecture series. Fellows’ level of preparedness increased across several PC topics (Table). The greatest increases were in creating a survivorship plan, converting from one opioid to another, and managing pain in a patient at risk for a substance use disorder. Fellows ranked individual lectures as very helpful to their learning, especially lectures on management of GI symptoms (4.9 +/- 0.3), pain management with opioids (4.8 +/- 0.4), and communication (4.5 +/- 0.5). Conclusions: Incorporation of a structured PC didactics series into HO fellowship is feasible, perceived as very useful, and associated with increased self-perceived preparedness. While more longitudinal and hands-on PC experience would likely promote HO fellows’ PC skills more deeply and durably, dedicated PC lectures are an important adjunctive component that can be easily incorporated into HO fellowship education. [Table: see text]