Table 5.
Oncology topic perceived importance and prevalence of current teaching
| Topic | Surveyed Group | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents (N = 150) |
PDs (N = 17) |
|||
| Mean Importancea | Currently taught | Mean Importancea | Currently taught | |
| Performing pap smears | 4.9 | 99% | 5.0 | 100% |
| Screening for common cancers | 4.9 | 100% | 4.9 | 100% |
| Breaking bad news | 4.8 | 96% | 5.0 | 93% |
| Cancer prevention | 4.7 | 95% | 5.0 | 93% |
| Approach to patient with increased risk of cancer | 4.7 | 92% | 4.7 | 93% |
| Palliative care | 4.6 | 89% | 5.0 | 100% |
| Approach to diagnosis | 4.5 | 89% | 4.7 | 93% |
| Providing psychosocial support | 4.4 | 75% | 4.8 | 87% |
| Performing skin biopsy | 4.3 | 85% | 4.9 | 100% |
| Appropriate referrals to cancer specialists | 4.2 | 52% | 4.3 | 73% |
| Post-treatment surveillance for recurrence | 4.1 | 36% | 4.0 | 47% |
| Managing common complications | 4.0 | 40% | 3.6 | 40% |
| Managing common treatment side effects | 4.0 | 39% | 4.4 | 47% |
| Epidemiology of common cancers | 3.9 | 80% | 3.2 | 67% |
| Prognosis of common cancers | 3.8 | 44% | 3.6 | 20% |
| Management of long term complications from treatment | 3.7 | 18% | 3.4 | 13% |
| Management of common cancers | 3.5 | 36% | 3.6 | 40% |
| Approach to cancer treatment | 3.1 | 34% | 3.7 | 64% |
| Approach to staging cancer | 2.9 | 24% | 2.5 | 20% |
| Performing fine needle biopsy | 2.8 | 15% | 2.9 | 21% |
| Performing bone marrow biopsy | 1.8 | 3% | 1.5 | 0% |
aLikert scale out of 5, 5 = very important, 1 = not important