UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION ABOUT CANCER - A SURVEY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGISTS AND CLINICIAN RESPONSIBLE FOR CANCER TEACHING IN AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL-SCHOOLS

Undergraduate cancer education in Australian medical schools is not in tegrated and there is little evidence of change in content or structur e in recent years in spite of major changes in knowledge about cancer epidemiology and cancer biology, and in cancer management. A recent su rvey of graduating students/interns from all Australian medical school s revealed a disturbing variability in experience and lack of importan t knowledge. There was evidence of substantial differences in knowledg e of, and rating of teaching between the different disciplines involve d in cancer control and cancer management. To examine possible reasons for this, we surveyed cancer clinicians and teachers of oncology in t he undergraduate curriculum at Australian medical schools. We asked th em the same questions of knowledge as the students, and also to commen t on the type and emphasis of teaching desirable in the medical studen ts' cancer curriculum. The results indicate not only that the survey i nstrument was seen to be relevant, but also that some of the bias and misinformation detected in the student experiences may be attributed t o attitude, knowledge and differences of opinion of the teachers. The results highlight the need for an integrated cancer curriculum to info rm graduates about an illness which will be diagnosed in more than a q uarter of the Australian population.