A multidisciplinary summer studentship in palliative and supportive care in Oncology
Document Type
Article
Department
School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa
Abstract
Purpose: the optimal context for the inter-professional education of pre-licensure health care trainees is currently unclear, especially in a field as complex and emotionally challenging as oncology. We describe the initiation of a multidisciplinary (MD) elective clinical placement in palliative and supportive Care in tertiary cancer centre designed to introduce trainees to challenges facing patients and families following a diagnosis of cancer.
Methods: an MD steering committee composed of department heads, clinical program leads, nursing and patient education and a community representative, was convened to establish studentship goals, application process, funding and a consensus approach to instruction and evaluation. On the first and last day of the studentship, trainees completes questionnaires exploring their experiences and attitudinal changes.
Results: Clinical nutrition, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, respiratory therapy and social work students were invited to apply. The two successful candidates (a medical student and post-graduate clinical nutrition intern) completed five studentship components: mandatory and flexible clinical time, an exploratory investigation, weekly discussion groups and a final presentation. At elective’s end, both students described a more positive view of MD practice. Both students gained an appreciation of the roles of other disciplines, practiced clinical and communication skills and improved their awareness of patient experience.
Conclusion: our six-week placement is feasible, successful, and even over a short period, students demonstrate objective perceptual changes. Trainees practice both team-process and clinical skills which will be transferable to future clinical placements and ultimately post-licensure practice.
Supported by the Alberta Cancer Research Institute and an unrestricted educational grant from Ortho-Biotech.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Radiotherapy & Oncology
Recommended Citation
Fairchild, A.,
Lefresne, S.,
Nielsen, D.,
Watanabe, S.,
Chambers, C.,
Winfield, C.,
Mushani, T.,
Yurick, J.,
Lem, L.,
Tachynski, P.,
Borschneck, J.,
Tyre, L.,
Stacey, A.
(2009). A multidisciplinary summer studentship in palliative and supportive care in Oncology. Radiotherapy & Oncology, 92(2), S61.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_sonam/103
Comments
This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.