Acute oncology for foundation doctors: evaluating an educational intervention

Foundation doctors work in varying settings across general practice and hospitals, often interacting with oncology patients. It is vital these doctors take comprehensive histories and understand how to use the acute oncology service (AOS), to optimise patient care. Currently, the confidence Foundation Doctors feel in their ability to take an oncological history and use the AOS appropriately, including how to refer to the service, is unknown. This project aimed to assess confidence in oncological history taking and use of the AOS service before and after an educational intervention. This prospective cohort educational evaluation used a novel one-hour tutorial, co-delivered by two Foundation Doctors and AOS nurses. Anonymous quantitative data was collected using pre- and post-intervention internally developed questionnaires. 138 Participants included Foundation Doctor Year’s One and Two at Manchester Foundation Trust and Salford Royal Foundation Trust. Data was stored in Excel Version 16.86 (24060916). Prior to educational intervention over 50% of Foundation Doctors described their confidence levels in undertaking an oncological history as “not very confident” or not confident” this decreased after education intervention to less than 5% (Chi-Squared P-value: <0.001). Foundation Doctors’ knowledge of how to refer to AOS increased significantly (Odds Ratio = 89, 95% Confidence Interval 21–372, P-Value: <0.001). Findings may demonstrate that Foundation Doctors initially lacked confidence and knowledge regarding oncological assessments and the AOS. Following an educational intervention, both confidence and knowledge improved significantly, supporting the inclusion of AOS teaching in Foundation Doctor teaching.