Improving the Knowledge, Skill, and Attitudes of Medical Faculty Students on the Breast Cancer

Abstract

Objective: In this study, it was aimed for third-year medical school students to improve their knowledge, examination skills and attitudes about breast cancer, and to experience the skills of taking a disease history, communicating effectively and giving bad news. Method: The present study was carried out with 406 3rd-year medical faculty students from Akdeniz University and a semi-experimental method was employed. The content of implementation consists of improving the students’ skills in receiving disease history from the patient and “clinical breast examination” on breast model, as well as informing the patient about the examination findings. Before the application, all students were given theoretical information about the subject and practiced with a learning guide on clinical breast examination. The pretest-posttest results of surveys received from the participating students and the standardized patient practice feedback form were analyzed. Result: Examining the surveys conducted before and after the implementation with 406 students, it was found that the students learned what the risk factors related with breast cancer are and they could question them while receiving the patient history (p