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Developing a Novel Interactive Colorectal Cancer Educational Session for First-Year Medical Students to Enhance Interest in Public Health.

ABSTRACT: Medical students need more exposure to and a greater understanding of their role in public health throughout their training, which may influence more of them to pursue careers in public health or change how they practice medicine in the future. A novel colorectal cancer education session was created for first year medical students to attempt to increase public health interest, improve colorectal cancer knowledge and discuss barriers to colorectal cancer screening. We constructed a novel integrated interactive peer led colorectal cancer educational session of panelists with a wide range of experiences in colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer screening. The session involved a didactic component, case presentation, and group exercises followed by assembly discussion. We surveyed first-year medical students over two consecutive years to assess their interest in public health, knowledge of colorectal cancer, and perceptions of barriers to colorectal cancer screening before and after the educational session. We also evaluated student satisfaction with the session. We compared the pre- and post-survey results to assess for changes in interest, knowledge and perceptions. 74.63% of students in 2018 and 67.7% in 2019 evaluated the session as excellent or good, with knowledge regarding colorectal cancer screening markedly increased after the educational session. Students reported knowledge and access to healthcare among the biggest patient barriers to colorectal cancer screening. Interest in public health increased by 7.5% and 5.6% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The implementation of this interactive educational peer led exercise can increase interest in public health, improve knowledge of colorectal cancer prevention and facilitate discussions of colorectal cancer screening barriers. We hope to encourage other programs to adopt this preliminary model.

SUBMITTER: Marcellon R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8457545 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:IntroductionThe session was designed as part of a yearlong elective within the Association of American Medical Colleges' Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum (EPAC) pilot at the University of California, San Francisco. The EPAC pilot aims for longitudinal pediatric education across the medical school and pediatric residency years, with specific emphasis on competency-based advancement. The goal of the elective is to cultivate students' early interest in pediatrics.MethodsThis is an interactive case-based session for medical students on the clinical presentation and initial evaluation of adolescent depression. We developed this session based on an informal needs assessment at our local institution as well as prior research documenting the minimal time allocated to child and adolescent psychiatry in medical school curricula. The 80-minute interactive case-based format integrates knowledge and clinical experiences while requiring minimal equipment and preparation.ResultsThe session was administered at the University of California, San Francisco, in 2015 to 22 students. Fourteen participants completed evaluation questions (64% response rate). Of responders, 92%-100% thought the session was very or extremely effective at meeting the stated objectives, was interactive, had appropriate time allocated, and was very or extremely helpful at reinforcing objectives from the medical school curriculum. Thirteen participants completed postsession knowledge acquisition questions and performed better than controls (90% vs. 75%), but the difference was not statistically significant.DiscussionOther medical schools could easily administer this session as presented or adapt it to a different target audience or for different time constraints. It is an effective, interactive, well-paced, and helpful means of introducing to medical students a topic that is relevant for anyone going into pediatrics. Likewise, it helps to rectify the lack of child and adolescent psychiatry content in most medical school programs, and it aligns with the movement in undergraduate medical education towards more clinically integrated, inquiry-based curricula with attention to professional development.

Project description:ProblemThe World Health Organization calls on all with quality medical information to share it with the public and combat health misinformation; however, U.S. medical schools do not currently teach students effective communication with lay audiences about health. Most physicians have inadequate training in mass communication strategies.ApproachIn August 2018, a novel 90-minute class at the University of Minnesota Medical School introduced fourth-year medical students to basic skills for communicating with lay audiences through mass media. Instructors were physicians with experience interacting with the general public via radio, op-ed articles, social media, print media, television, and community and legislative advocacy. After a 20-minute lecture and sharing of instructors' personal experiences, students completed two 30-minute small-group activities. They identified communications objectives and talking points for a health topic, drafting these as Tweets or an op-ed article outline, then presented talking points in a mock press conference with their peers, practicing skills just learned. Pre- and postsurveys documented students' previous engagement and comfort with future engagement with mass media messaging.OutcomesOver 1 week, 142 students participated in 6 separate classes, and 127 completed both pre- and postsurveys. Before the course, only 6% (7/127) of students had comfortably engaged with social media and 14% (18/127) had engaged with traditional media in their professional roles. After the course, students self-reported an increase in their comfort, perceived ability, and likelihood of using specific communications skills to advocate for their patients (all P < .001).Next stepsThe course will be expanded into a 5-session thread for third- and fourth-year medical students spread over 2 years. This thread will include meeting physicians who engage with lay audiences, identifying best practices for mass health communication, identifying bias and misinformation, "dos and don'ts" of social media, and communication skills for legislative advocacy.

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Developing a Novel Interactive Colorectal Cancer Educational Session for First-Year Medical Students to Enhance Interest in Public Health.

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