Radiation Oncology Resident Leadership Course: Does Integrating Communication Skill Development with Real Donors Lead to Effective Presentations?

Background Interpersonal and communication skill development in graduate medical education is necessary for providing residents with training to facilitate interactions with oncology patients, such as breaking bad news and showing empathy. Yet, to succeed in professional careers, trainees need to be able to connect with audiences beyond that of colleagues and doctor/patient. Providing actionable feedback from specific audiences is important for trainees to develop communication skills in various situations. We sought to explore how residents could present research ideas to donors to determine effective delivery and approach. Methods At our center, radiation oncology medical and physical residents take part in a longitudinal leadership training course. In 2021, we partnered with our affiliated university communications academic department to discuss how to optimize communication strategies to donors with respect to message, tone of voice, pitch, and overall effectiveness. In 2022, we partnered with actual donors from a local colorectal cancer organization to hear resident pitches and provide real time feedback. Two medical residents and two physics residents were selected for the pitch session to present their research ideas without slides. Three board members from the donor organization and our institution's foundation liaison for the GI program participated virtually. All the resident participants were on-site. Results The residents were rated as highly effective by the donors in their pitches. Importantly, the donors emphasized that the residents appropriately communicated complex ideas at a lay person level. All donors reported that they understood the stated research objectives. The donors felt each resident successfully communicated the research idea and the need for additional funding. Feedback from the donors for the four residents in the pitch session centered around effective messaging, audience engagement, and confidence. Thematic analysis of the feedback revealed a universal need among participants to be more direct regarding the amount of funding necessary for each project. Discussion Leadership training should include focus on "leading self" which involves the development of effective communication skills. The opportunity for residents to speak with real donors and communicate their research ideas for possible future funding was well received by both the donors and the residents. One future improvement is to highlight to the residents the need to clarify what they are asking for with respect to funding amount. Additional studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of such a course with respect to future philanthropic success. Interpersonal and communication skill development in graduate medical education is necessary for providing residents with training to facilitate interactions with oncology patients, such as breaking bad news and showing empathy. Yet, to succeed in professional careers, trainees need to be able to connect with audiences beyond that of colleagues and doctor/patient. Providing actionable feedback from specific audiences is important for trainees to develop communication skills in various situations. We sought to explore how residents could present research ideas to donors to determine effective delivery and approach. At our center, radiation oncology medical and physical residents take part in a longitudinal leadership training course. In 2021, we partnered with our affiliated university communications academic department to discuss how to optimize communication strategies to donors with respect to message, tone of voice, pitch, and overall effectiveness. In 2022, we partnered with actual donors from a local colorectal cancer organization to hear resident pitches and provide real time feedback. Two medical residents and two physics residents were selected for the pitch session to present their research ideas without slides. Three board members from the donor organization and our institution's foundation liaison for the GI program participated virtually. All the resident participants were on-site. The residents were rated as highly effective by the donors in their pitches. Importantly, the donors emphasized that the residents appropriately communicated complex ideas at a lay person level. All donors reported that they understood the stated research objectives. The donors felt each resident successfully communicated the research idea and the need for additional funding. Feedback from the donors for the four residents in the pitch session centered around effective messaging, audience engagement, and confidence. Thematic analysis of the feedback revealed a universal need among participants to be more direct regarding the amount of funding necessary for each project. Leadership training should include focus on "leading self" which involves the development of effective communication skills. The opportunity for residents to speak with real donors and communicate their research ideas for possible future funding was well received by both the donors and the residents. One future improvement is to highlight to the residents the need to clarify what they are asking for with respect to funding amount. Additional studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of such a course with respect to future philanthropic success.