ESTRO meets Asia 2024 - Abstract Book

S125

Interdisciplinary – Education in radiation oncology

ESTRO meets Asia 2024

University Hospitals Sideman Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, USA. 8 Department of Radiation Oncology, CB Oncology, Cutler Bay, USA. 9 Department of Radiation Oncology, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Seattle, USA

Purpose/Objective:

As the feasibility, interest, and impact of remote, online contouring training program in low- to middle-income Asian countries has not been documented in a large scale, we aim to investigate these factors while conducting a training program in contouring pelvic malignancies.

Material/Methods:

A 10-session, 1-1.5 hour once weekly, live contouring course was offered to radiation oncologists practicing in South East Asia via Zoom through a non-profit organization, Rayos Contra Cancer (RCC). The curriculum was developed by volunteer U.S. radiation oncologist who are disease site experts across different pelvic malignancies, including gynecologic, genitourinary, and lower gastrointestinal cancers. Participants were asked to answer pre- and post-program surveys including demographic data, confidence scores across multiple general and disease-site specific contouring domains based on a 5-point Likert scale, a 10 question contouring knowledge test, and anonymous feedback. The contouring knowledge test consisted of multiple-choice questions with 4 visual options: a key showing a correct contour based on well-accepted international guidelines and 3 distractors showing common contouring mistakes. Changes in pre- and post program confidence and knowledge scores were evaluated using a paired t-test. Participation and satisfaction scores from post-program feedback were recorded.

Results:

Two hundred seventy-six participants joined the training program from November 4, 2022 to January 28, 2023, with 144 participants completing pre- and post-confidence score surveys and knowledge tests. The attendance for each session was steady across 10 weeks (mean 140, range 115-158). Among 144 completing participants, mean confidence scores before vs. after the program increased by +26.28% (2.92 vs. 3.67, p < 0.01) and were significantly improved across all disease sites taught (range +21.5% to +34.1%). Mean knowledge test scores increased by +46.2% (4.47 vs. 6.53, p < 0.01). The average likelihood of recommending this training program to another colleague was 9.63 out of 10.

Conclusion:

A 3-month longitudinal remote contouring training program resulted in consistent participation, excellent satisfaction scores, and significant improvements in confidence and knowledge of contouring pelvic malignancies. Providing structured didactic sessions on disease specific contouring with an emphasis on common contouring mistakes appeared to be an effective curriculum design for radiation oncologists in low- to middle-income countries. This strategy could be replicated for continuous medical education, scaled to other countries, and applied for other cancer disease sites.

Keywords: contouring, global health, online-course