Pilot Pediatric Contouring Workshop in Latin America

Abstract

<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> Contouring workshops reflect an educational intervention with the ability to improve participant knowledge. Past trial data have shown that poor contouring may confer inferior survival. Published systematic reviews of contouring workshops have not identified any experiences in Latin America. Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country of Latin America and is noted to have among the highest age-standardized incidences of pediatric cancer in the Western Hemisphere. Past Spanish-language Latin American contouring workshops yielded poor pre- and post-homework completion rates. We sought to establish a pilot workshop with significant stakeholder engagement to considerably improve participant contouring accuracy. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> Stakeholder planning began the summer of 2019. Partnering with local and international stakeholders, we designed a Spanish-language intervention with 3 phases: (1) preintervention content assessment, (2) educational workshop intervention, and (3) postintervention assessment. Based on survey of Mexican radiation oncologists, the intervention targeted high-grade glioma (HGG), Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and medulloblastoma (MB). Participants contoured assigned homework structures pre- and post-workshop to assess improvement with accuracy measured by Dice metric. Contouring was performed using a computer-based training tool. Comparative statistics were conducted by the Wilcoxon sum-rank test. Homework completion was encouraged by offering Continuing Medical Education credits through the national Sociedad Mexicana de Radioterapeutas (SOMERA). <h3>Results</h3> The contouring workshop was conducted on November 28, 2020. Participants had two weeks before and after to complete pre- and post-workshop homework. Results and participant metrics for those who completed both pre- and post- homework are shown in Table. Significant improvements were seen on all target volumes. <h3>Conclusion</h3> We pilot the first reported Latin American e-contouring workshop educational intervention with pre- and post-workshop Dice metrics, noting statistically significant improvement in all target volumes. We had substantial improvement in participation compared to prior experience by partnering with SOMERA, further legitimizing the effort, and through its offer of Continuing Medical Education credits. We look to expand this program through similar efforts to other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries and follow the success longitudinally in Mexico.