A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED-STUDY OF PORTFOLIO LEARNING IN UNDERGRADUATE CANCER EDUCATION

Portfolio learning has not previously been reported for clinical under graduate teaching. This open randomized study aimed to assess the effe ct of portfolio learning in the teaching of oncology to medical studen ts. The project aimed to provide the student with a holistic understan ding of the impact of the disease and its treatment on the patient and family, and the natural history of malignant disease, through long-te rm personal experience of a cancer patient. All undergraduate medical students entering Clinical Studies in October 1992 at the University o f Wales College of Medicine were randomized to a study or control grou p. Both groups continued with the standard curriculum. Each study-grou p student followed a patient with cancer for 9 months, supported by bi monthly small-group tutorials. Tutors were either general practitioner s or hospital consultants, not necessarily oncologists; each was suppl ied with a tutor's resource pack of key oncology review papers. Studen ts recorded triggers to learning and key items in a personal learning portfolio. Students' performances in clinical examinations and the con tents of their portfolio were assessed. Final assessment was by hidden questions in the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in the final degree examination, when students in the study group showed higher marks in factual knowledge of oncology, particularly amongst th e weaker students (P = 0.01). Those submitting portfolios for formativ e assessment had higher overall marks than those in the study group wh o did not (P = 0.04), representing the more motivated students. The wh ole study group showed a beneficial trend in their knowledge of oncolo gy.