Radiation Oncology Microclerkship: A Day in Radiation Oncology as a Component of Other Related Clerkships

Abstract

<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> Many US medical students have opportunities for clinical exposure to medical oncology, surgical oncology (or other surgical subspecialties) during the required internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, and OB/GYN clerkships. However, radiation oncology (RO) lacks a similar natural pathway into the clinical clerkships, and only a small percentage of students choose to rotate in RO, thus substantially limiting a broader understanding of the role of radiation therapy in multidisciplinary cancer care among other practicing physicians. The hypothesis of this study is that incorporating a 1-day "microclerkship" exposure in RO as part of other related clerkships will be feasible, and perceived as valuable to participating students. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> The RO clerkship director at a single institution partnered with clerkship directors in medical oncology, palliative care, and radiology so that every 3^rd or 4^th year student rotating in those specialties would spend 1 day in RO during those clerkships. Students were given educational materials to review beforehand, a 30-minute introductory recorded presentation about general principles of RO to watch, as well as a slide deck or article describing how radiation therapy is relevant to patient care for the subspecialty of the primary clerkship they were on. At minimum, the day in RO included shadowing a single radiation oncologist in clinic, and the therapists as patients were treated, but sometimes also included tumor board, brachytherapy or treatment planning if part of the attending's day. Students completed a follow-up electronic survey about their experience afterwards. <h3>Results</h3> Pilot data of 18 students are reported, of whom 4 reported being 3rd year medical students and 12 reported being 4th year medical students. Only 1 had ever seen a prior lecture from a radiation oncologist and 1 had visited a RO department. On a 5-point Likert-type scale, 16 students (89%) rated the experience a 4 or 5 (quite or extremely valuable). Seventeen students (94%) felt moderately to extremely more knowledgeable about the role of radiation therapy in cancer management. Ten students (63%) were potentially more interested in doing a full RO rotation, and 4 students (25%) were more interested in a career in RO, after this experience. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Preliminary data suggest a valuable role of incorporating RO exposure into other related medical student clerkships. In the coming months, more students will participate from these clerkships as well as others, and the project will be expanded to multiple institutions. We believe that utilizing this approach will drastically improve the amount of RO exposure for US medical students, and all subsequently have a positive impact on referral patterns and multidisciplinary patient care.