2333 - Integrating Radiation Oncology Cases into Anatomy: An Opportunity to Incorporate Radiation Oncology into the Curriculum

Purpose/Objective(s):

There has been more emphasis on competency-based education and multidisciplinary curriculum development in undergraduate medical education (UME). Anatomical knowledge is critical and there are opportunities to incorporate clinical cases and multidisciplinary approach into the anatomy course. Incorporating cancer cases, which include surgical, systemic therapy and radiation therapy management will enable students to learn the basics of cancer care in early years and will also broaden their options for residency. We hypothesize that with the current teaching methods, learning anatomy can be challenging and incorporating case-based presentations into medical school anatomy courses will be beneficial.

Materials/Methods:

Frontiers in neoplasia (FIN) is a four-week curriculum for fourth-year medical students which includes didactics and a field trip to the radiation oncology department. For the past 2 years, we incorporated two radiation oncology related cases. Each case was thoroughly analyzed, integrating multiple anatomical concepts and how radiation oncologists use that information. Following the presentation, students completed a validated nine-question Likert scale survey (adapted from Anatomy Learning Experience Questionnaire) to assess the presentation's effectiveness and provide insights into their experiences with anatomy instruction during first year of medical school.

Results:

Over the past 2 years, 52 students who attended the FIN radiation oncology session were surveyed. A majority (75%) found the volume of anatomy content in the first year to be overwhelming. Additionally, 25% stated that they had a hard time learning anatomy due to a perceived lack of relevance, while 38% felt that the teaching style did not align with their learning preferences. However, 65% reported that clinical rotations helped them apply their anatomy knowledge, and 75% acknowledged the frequent use of anatomical and radiological concepts in clinical settings. Following the presentation, 90% believed that incorporating similar case-based scenarios into the first-year anatomy curriculum would have been beneficial, and 96% agreed that the information provided was helpful.

Conclusion:

Many students perceive the anatomy curriculum as overwhelming, and at least one-quarter reported difficulty recognizing its clinical relevance, highlighting opportunities for curricular improvement. Following a single presentation, students responded favorably to a case-based approach to teaching anatomy. These findings suggest that integrating radiation oncology cases into the anatomy curriculum could enhance traditional medical education and improve learning outcomes. Our next phase of the study is to design similar cases for first-year medical students. We will also evaluate to see if this intervention will increase interest in radiation oncology in terms of shadowing, rotations and future application to the field.