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Partnership in Cancer Research (PCAR) Program Increases Medical Student Knowledge and Confidence to Perform Cancer Research.

ABSTRACT: Arkansas has a high cancer burden, and a pressing need exists for more medical students to pursue oncology as a career. The Partnership in Cancer Research (PCAR) program provides a summer research experience at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for 12 medical students who have completed their first year of medical training. A majority of participants spend time pursuing cancer research in basic science, clinical, or community-based research. Students report on their research progress in an interactive "Live from the Lab!" series and assemble a final poster presentation describing their findings. Other activities include participation in a moderated, cancer-patient support group online, lecture series on cancer topics, medical simulations, palliative care clinic visit, "Death Over Dinner" event, and an entrepreneurship competition. Students completed surveys over PCAR's first 2 years in operation to evaluate all aspects of the program. Surveys reveal that students enthusiastically embraced the program in its entirety. This was especially true of the medical simulations which received the highest evaluations. Most significantly, surveys revealed that the program increased cancer knowledge and participant confidence to perform cancer research.

SUBMITTER: Marin LP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10995089 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Partnership in Cancer Research (PCAR) Program Increases Medical Student Knowledge and Confidence to Perform Cancer Research.

Marin Luis P LP Presley Jessica H JH Noori Katerina K McKinstry Diane D Dawson Brandi B Sexton Kevin K Peterson Eric E Harrington Sarah Elizabeth SE Gardner Jerad M JM Nagalo Bolni Marius BM Montzavi-Karbassi Behjatolah B Post Steven R SR Nicholas Richard W RW Kelly Thomas T

Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education 20231113 2

Arkansas has a high cancer burden, and a pressing need exists for more medical students to pursue oncology as a career. The Partnership in Cancer Research (PCAR) program provides a summer research experience at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for 12 medical students who have completed their first year of medical training. A majority of participants spend time pursuing cancer research in basic science, clinical, or community-based research. Students report on their research progre ...[more]

PMID: 37957501

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Project description:BackgroundThe Scholarly Concentrations program was established at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2009 with the aim of instilling passion for scholarship.ObjectiveOur study aimed to determine whether the Scholarly Concentrations program achieves positive changes in medical student self-efficacy in conducting research and, if so, whether this results in future career aspirations toward scholarship.DesignWe used the Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory-Short Form (CRAI-SF) to assess changes in self-efficacy among students completing the Scholarly Concentrations program between 2014 and 2017. We calculated composite mean scores of six domains. We included outcomes on whether students published a manuscript, overall program perceptions, and likelihood of future research careers. We analyzed relationships between CRAI-SF scores and outcomes using paired t-tests and multivariable-adjusted logistic regression.ResultsA total of 419 students completed the Scholarly Concentrations program. All 6 CRAI domain scores showed significant improvements in self-efficacy between the pre-Scholarly Concentrations and post-Scholarly Concentrations ratings (range of changes 0.76-1.39, p < 0.05 for all). We found significant associations between post-Scholarly Concentrations self-efficacy ratings and course satisfaction (adjusted OR 1.57 [95% CI 1.20, 2.07]) and mentor satisfaction (OR 1.46 [1.15, 1.86]), as well as students' intent to conduct future research (OR 1.46 [1.15, 1.86]). These results were robust to sensitivity analyses, and pronounced in the group of students without prior research experience.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that a Scholarly Concentrations program is associated with an increased self-efficacy for research, and these changes in self-efficacy are associated with higher satisfaction in the scholarly experience and increased likelihood of pursuing scholarly work. Other medical schools could use such a tool of self-efficacy to both investigate the overall Scholarly Concentrations experience and understand factors that may increase interest in future physician-scientist pathways.

Dataset Information

Partnership in Cancer Research (PCAR) Program Increases Medical Student Knowledge and Confidence to Perform Cancer Research.

Publications

Partnership in Cancer Research (PCAR) Program Increases Medical Student Knowledge and Confidence to Perform Cancer Research.

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