Differences in cancer prevention knowledge and experience among medical students at three institutions over time.

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the effect of an enhanced cancer prevention curriculum on medical students' changes in knowledge, self-perceived competence, and educational experience in cancer prevention during the first three years of medical school at three different institutions.

METHODS

MANOVAs were used to compare the differences in mean knowledge scores and self-reported competence in counseling and performing screening exams among the institutions at pre-test and post-test, respectively. We also calculated a change score for the two institutions that used the same ID codes to track students and used a MANCOVA for comparison in order to adjust for pretest scores. Pearson chi-square tests were used to compare educational experience.

RESULTS

The three schools significantly (p < .01) differed from each other in mean knowledge scores and self-perceived competence at both survey times. For all three institutions, post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores (p < .001). The students of the three schools also reported significantly (p < .05) different amounts of educational experience in most areas.

CONCLUSIONS

The varied amount of direct instruction in cancer prevention received by the students at the three institutions may account for the variation in outcomes. Findings demonstrate the effect of the enhanced curriculum.