Enhancing evidence-based medicine skills in oncology training with cognitive technology.

Abstract

10532 Background: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) requires applying literature evidence to inform practice. Students from Taipei Medical University Hospital, trained in EBM concepts, participated in a preliminary study using Watson for Oncology (WfO), an evidence-based decision-support system to enhance the EBM skills of medical students. Methods: A class of 50 medical students compared traditional search methods (TSM) and WfO in a workshop divided into 2 sequential sessions on colon and lung cancer, respectively. All students were trained on WfO, and 2 groups of 25 students each were randomly assigned to either TSM or WfO in the first session. Those groups were then assigned to the alternate approach in the second session. Students completed a profile that included their clinical experience with each cancer type. Students used either WfO or TSM to help answer a series of questions related to colon or lung cancer. Students then completed a survey of attitudes towards the technology, followed by a constructed-response learning assessment without the aid of TSM or WfO. Assessments were scored and results compared using a Mann-Whitney U Test; outcomes at two different experience levels, based on student profiles, were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: In this preliminary study, more than 70% of students reported limited clinical experience with either cancer. On the colon cancer assessment, students in the WfO group performed significantly better than the TSM group ( p = 0.0001); there was no significant difference detected for lung cancer. Students with more clinical experience felt that TSM was easier to learn than WfO ( p= 0.005); students with less experience felt that WfO was clearer and more understandable than TSM ( p= 0.002). Conclusions: These preliminary results are consistent with better learning outcomes for students using WfO in the colon cancer module. Students with more clinic experience reported that TSM was easier to learn than WfO, however it is unknown if this might be due to a potentially greater familiarity with TSM in this more experienced group. More studies are needed to determine what features, if any, of WfO can facilitate EBM approaches in oncology education.