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A new study suggests that almost half of cancer patients would benefit from radiation therapy, but a new study suggests that medical students receive valuable training.
All medical schools in Australia and New Zealand have been surveyed for research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology. Of those who responded, most devoted less than 15% of their medical curriculum to oncology and half did not offer formal education in radiation oncology to all students .
"Radiation therapy plays a vital role in healing or improving the quality of life of cancer patients," said Sandra Turner, co-author of the study.
"Yet for decades, Australian and New Zealand medical programs have provided training on this modern and effective treatment." According to ongoing research, young doctors felt that their training left them unprepared to fully inform cancer patients, said Professor Turner.
"The time spent teaching Radiation Oncology often took less than five days in a four to five year medical school," she said.
"There is an urgent need to improve radiotherapy education within the medical profession."
John North, consultant consultant on radiation oncology at Dunedin, is also a keynote speaker at the Dunedin School of Medicine and agreed that radiation oncology at the undergraduate level had been used very little.
"This has always been the case even a long time ago when I went to medical school when we had about half a day," he said.
"There is a little more exposure these days through general surgery, but when it comes to specialist interventions, there are not many."
There was a lot of other competing interests at the undergraduate level and only a lot of time, Dr. North said.
"Students should at least be aware that treatment exists and is an important part of it, and I think we are trying to emphasize that."
The study found that cancer weighed heavily on the health budget and that more needed to be done to train medical students.
"Graduate doctors consistently demonstrate low knowledge and skills in oncology," he said.
"The majority of faculties have indicated that they will change their curriculum over the next five years, but only 20% will evaluate the content of radiation oncology.
"This presents a critical window in which it is possible to highlight the deficiency in radiation oncology education and its impact on patient care."
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