Pilot Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Seminar Series to Foster Increased Understanding of and Interest in Oncologic Care Among Medical Students

Background Prior work has demonstrated a need for educational curricula to increase medical student understanding of how to care for a growing population of patients with cancer, particularly in a multidisciplinary setting. Tumor boards (TBs) foster both high quality complex care for patients with cancer and continued education for oncologists. While TBs are critical components of oncologic practice, medical students have minimal exposure to TBs. We designed a TB seminar series for preclinical medical students with the primary aim of promoting a multidisciplinary lens towards cancer care and a secondary aim of increasing exposure to radiation oncology (RO). Methods Seminars were developed in collaboration with a resident-led RO Education Committee and a medical student-led Oncology Interest Group (OIG) at a single academic institution. Each seminar comprised of a 30-minute RO resident-led didactic session followed by a 60-minute institutional TB meeting and concluded with a 15-minute resident-led debrief. The didactics were used to provide a scaffold for observing the TB by describing the specialists' roles, commonly encountered diseases, treatment paradigms, and clinical challenges frequently addressed in this venue. In the resident-led didactic, special emphasis was placed on describing RO approaches and considerations. The post-TB debrief offered an opportunity for consolidation by providing a forum to address questions, highlight learning points, provide closure to challenging scenarios, and explore opportunities for engagement in research. Results The first seminar series piloted was Stereotactic Radiosurgery TB. An email inviting participation was sent via the OIG to all first-year medical students at our institution. Six students pre-registered for the seminar and subsequently participated in the seminar. Three students expressed interest in writing a case report on a patient treated with radiosurgery following the seminar experience. Participating students and program leadership expressed interest in continued seminar programming; the second seminar in the series will expose students to a breast TB. Discussion Pilot implementation of a multidisciplinary TB seminar series for medical students is feasible and may spark clinical and scholarly interest in RO. Future directions include formal integration of TB opportunities into longitudinal oncology curricula in preclinical medical education and promoting sustainability of the seminar series through institutional support. We plan to conduct a longitudinal mixed-methods study among students who attend at least one TB seminar in the series to assess the impact of the seminar series on familiarity with multidisciplinary care, interest in a career in RO, and participation in RO-focused scholarship. Prior work has demonstrated a need for educational curricula to increase medical student understanding of how to care for a growing population of patients with cancer, particularly in a multidisciplinary setting. Tumor boards (TBs) foster both high quality complex care for patients with cancer and continued education for oncologists. While TBs are critical components of oncologic practice, medical students have minimal exposure to TBs. We designed a TB seminar series for preclinical medical students with the primary aim of promoting a multidisciplinary lens towards cancer care and a secondary aim of increasing exposure to radiation oncology (RO). Seminars were developed in collaboration with a resident-led RO Education Committee and a medical student-led Oncology Interest Group (OIG) at a single academic institution. Each seminar comprised of a 30-minute RO resident-led didactic session followed by a 60-minute institutional TB meeting and concluded with a 15-minute resident-led debrief. The didactics were used to provide a scaffold for observing the TB by describing the specialists' roles, commonly encountered diseases, treatment paradigms, and clinical challenges frequently addressed in this venue. In the resident-led didactic, special emphasis was placed on describing RO approaches and considerations. The post-TB debrief offered an opportunity for consolidation by providing a forum to address questions, highlight learning points, provide closure to challenging scenarios, and explore opportunities for engagement in research. The first seminar series piloted was Stereotactic Radiosurgery TB. An email inviting participation was sent via the OIG to all first-year medical students at our institution. Six students pre-registered for the seminar and subsequently participated in the seminar. Three students expressed interest in writing a case report on a patient treated with radiosurgery following the seminar experience. Participating students and program leadership expressed interest in continued seminar programming; the second seminar in the series will expose students to a breast TB. Pilot implementation of a multidisciplinary TB seminar series for medical students is feasible and may spark clinical and scholarly interest in RO. Future directions include formal integration of TB opportunities into longitudinal oncology curricula in preclinical medical education and promoting sustainability of the seminar series through institutional support. We plan to conduct a longitudinal mixed-methods study among students who attend at least one TB seminar in the series to assess the impact of the seminar series on familiarity with multidisciplinary care, interest in a career in RO, and participation in RO-focused scholarship.