Needs Assessment of Palliative Care Education in Gynecologic Oncology Fellowships: We’re not teaching what we think is most important ^☆

• Carolyn Lefkowits^{a, ,} ,
• Paniti Sukumvanich^a,
• Rene Claxton^b,
• Madeleine Courtney-Brooks^a,
• Joseph L. Kelley^a,
• Melissa A. McNeil^c,

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Highlights

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Gynecologic oncology fellowship directors prioritize communication topics as the most important palliative care (PC) topics for fellows to learn

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There is no correlation between PC topics most consistently taught in current fellowship curricula and those considered most important

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There is a strong correlation between PC topics considered most important and those of greatest interest for new curricular materials

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Abstract

Objectives

We sought to characterize gynecologic oncology fellowship directors’ perspectives on (1) Inclusion of Palliative Care (PC) topics in current fellowship curricula (2) Relative importance of PC topics and (3) Interest in new PC curricular materials.

Methods

An electronic survey was distributed to fellowship directors, assessing current teaching of 16 PC topics meeting ABOG/ASCO objectives, relative importance of PC topics and interest in new PC curricular materials. Descriptive and correlative statistics were used.

Results

Response rate was 63% (29/46). 100% of programs had coverage of some PC topic in didactics in the past year and 48% (14/29) have either a required or elective PC rotation. Only 14% (4/29) have a written PC curriculum. Rates of explicit teaching of PC topics ranged from 36% (fatigue) to 93% (nausea). Four of the top five most important PC topics for fellowship education were communication topics. There was no correlation between topics most frequently taught and those considered most important (r_s = 0.11, p = 0.69). All fellowship directors would consider using new PC curricular materials. Educational modalities of greatest interest include example teaching cases and PowerPoint slides.

Conclusions

Gynecologic oncology fellowship directors prioritize communication topics as the most important PC topics for fellows to learn. There is no correlation between which PC topics are currently being taught and which are considered most important. Interest in new PC curricular materials is high, representing an opportunity for curricular development and dissemination. Future efforts should address identification of optimal methods for teaching communication to gynecologic oncology fellows.

Keywords

• palliative care;
• communication;
• education

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This paper was presented as an oral presentation at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Western Association of Gynecologic Oncologists (WAGO), Truckee, CA, June 2014.

Corresponding author at: Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, 300 Halket St, Pittsburgh PA 15213-3180. Fax: + 1 412 641 5417.