Completing the Results of a Pan-Canadian Survey on the State of Oncology Education in Family Practice Residency Programs: Comparison of One Province to the Rest of Canada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65539/7rfh5n34Keywords:
oncology education, family medicine, residency training, medical education, curriculum development, CanadaAbstract
Introduction: The incidence and prevalence of cancer in Canada is rising, and family physicians will increasingly provide care at all stages of a patient's cancer journey. This highlights the importance of adequate oncology education in family practice training programs. A survey study done in 2017 to assess the state of oncology education in Canadian family practice residency programs did not include the University of British Columbia (UBC). The purpose of our study was to obtain this data for the UBC family practice residency program and to compare the results to those from the rest of Canada.
Methods: A web-based survey was emailed to UBC family practice residents and program directors. The survey assessed depth of the oncology curriculum, current teaching methods and perceived gaps. Results were compared to the non-UBC survey data and interpreted with descriptive statistics.
Results: 54/348 UBC family practice residents and 10/20 program directors completed the survey. 3% of UBC and 7% of non-UBC family practice residents felt their program adequately prepared them to care for oncology patients. There was uniformity among all participants in ratings of perceived importance of a list of oncology topics expected to be covered in training for residents. There was discordance in the perceived frequency of topics taught between all family practice residents and program directors.
Conclusion: This study can inform further development of oncology specific curriculum in family practice residency programs. Further study is required to understand areas of discordance between family practice residents and program directors.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Alanna Janz, Lisa Wang, Svetlana Bortnik, Jaspreet Garcha, Vincent Tam, Steven Yip, Paris Ann Ingledew (Author)

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