Abstract 1610P
Background
Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, with increasing incidence as the population ages. The need for oncology curriculum at the under-graduate levels has been emphasized by many educators. However, oncology teaching in medical schools shows significant variation. The aim of the work is to record the integration of medical oncology in the curricula of Greek and Italian medical schools.
Methods
We conducted a web-based review of the current year curricula of all medical schools of the Greek and Italian universities. The content of courses entitled Medical Oncology, Clinical Oncology, and Oncology were further reviewed, and the teaching hours of medical oncology were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the results in the two countries.
Results
The curricula of seven Greek and 37 Italian medical schools were reviewed. Medical oncology is considered as a core course in the curriculum of 2/7 (28.5%) Greek and 33/37 (89.1%) Italian medical schools (p <0.001). In the rest of the medical schools, medical oncology is integrated in the course of internal medicine or considered an elective class. The average teaching hours in medical oncology increases significantly in the universities of both countries, for the core courses compared to elective classes [30 hours (range: 14-61) in Italian and 42 hours (range: 39-45), in Greek medical schools compared to 10 and 22 hours (range: 15-28), respectively) (p <0.02)].
Conclusions
Despite the fact that cancer is the second leading cause of death in Greece, the teaching of medical oncology is underrepresented in the curricula of the Greek medical schools compared to Italians. It is vital to enhance the teaching of medical oncology in Greece, in order to prepare graduates to safely manage patients with cancer from day one as a junior doctor.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.