The State of Cancer Epidemiology Curricula in Postgraduate Schools Worldwide

Abstract

The study aimed to describe the cancer epidemiology curricula in postgraduate schools worldwide. Using a stepwise approach, information on the cancer epidemiology curricula were abstracted through an internet search of medical or public heath schools worldwide. The common scientific outline (a scholarly developed classification of cancer-related topics) was used to describe the extents that cancer epidemiology and its scientific domains are incorporated into postgraduate degrees in the epidemiology. Among the 120 studied schools, no school offered an explicitly doctoral degree in cancer epidemiology. Just eight schools offered cancer epidemiology as an area of concentration in their epidemiology curricula. The contents of the cancer epidemiology courses offered in different schools were related in 44% of times to topics of cancer control, 19% times to risk factors, and just 11% of times to biology of cancer. The need for comprehensive re-evaluation of the cancer epidemiology curricula in postgraduate teaching was concluded.