Building a precision oncology workforce by multidisciplinary and case-based learning

• Published in: BMC medical education Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 75
• Main Authors: Chamala, Srikar, Maness, Heather T D, Brown, Lisa, Adams, C Brooke, Lamba, Jatinder K, Cogle, Christopher R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 26-01-2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Behavioral Objectives; Cancer; Case-based learning; Coding; Communities of Practice; Content analysis; Course Content; Curricula; Data analysis; Decision support systems; Diagnostic Tests; Discussion (Teaching Technique); Drug stores; Electronic Learning; Electronic Mail; Experiential Learning; Focus groups; Grading; Graduate medical education; Graduate students; Grounded Theory; Humans; In Person Learning; Interdisciplinary Studies; Interviews; Labor Force; Learning; Learning management systems; Management Systems; Medical education; Medical prognosis; Methods Courses; Mutation; Neoplasms - therapy; Oncology; Patients; Pharmacy; Postgraduate medical education; Precision Medicine; Precision oncology; Study and teaching; Workforce; Workshops; United States; Precision oncology; Case-based learning; Graduate medical education
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-02500-6

Participants in two recent National Academy of Medicine workshops identified a need for more multi-disciplinary professionals on teams to assist oncology clinicians in precision oncology.
We developed a graduate school course to prepare biomedical students and pharmacy students to work within a multidisciplinary team of oncology clinicians, pathologists, radiologists, clinical pharmacists, and genetic counselors. Students learned precision oncology skills via case-based learning, hands-on data analyses, and presentations to peers. After the course, a focus group session was conducted to gain an in-depth student perspective on their interprofessional training experience, achievement of the course learning outcomes, ways to improve the course design in future offerings, and how the course could improve future career outcomes. A convenience sampling strategy was used for recruitment into the focus group session. A thematic content analysis was then conducted using the constant comparative method.
Major themes arising from student feedback were (1) appreciation of a customized patient case-based teaching approach, (2) more emphasis on using data analysis tools, (3) valuing interdisciplinary inclusion, and (4) request for more student discussion with advanced preparation materials.
Feedback was generally positive and supports the continuation and expansion of the precision oncology course to include more hands-on instruction on the use of clinical bioinformatic tools.