The Asian Sarcoma Consortium Sarcoma Preceptorship Program: A Program Evaluation Study Utilizing the Kirkpatrick Model (Level 1 and 2).

BACKGROUND

Sarcomas, a heterogenous group of malignancies consisting of tumors, are rarely encountered in most general oncology clinics. As a result, most general oncologists have very little experience in dealing with these tumors and resulting in poorer treatment and survival outcomes. Having successful collaborative efforts in research, the Asian Sarcoma Consortium (ASC) pioneered a Sarcoma Preceptorship Program with its main goal of increasing awareness of the multidisciplinary approach in the management of sarcomas.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to evaluate the ASC Sarcoma Preceptorship Program using the first 2 levels of the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model: Level 1) Reaction - through using satisfaction surveys; and Level 2) Knowledge - focusing on the amount of information gained from the activity evaluated by test-retest method.

METHODS

The 2-day preceptorship program held in Singapore utilized educational activities such as didactic lectures, multidisciplinary case discussions, and case presentations. The program was evaluated using: 1) pre-test and post-test; 2) satisfaction survey from ASC; and 3) satisfaction survey made by the sponsor, Novartis Pharma.

RESULTS

The preceptorship program enrolled 30 participants, most from the Asia-Pacific region. The overall results from the satisfaction surveys were generally optimistic, with results showing high levels of satisfaction with regard to the time allotment, scope of topics, and how helpful each session was. Test results showed that participants scored lower in post-test as compared to the pre-test. Computation of the Coefficient of Test reliability showed that although the pre-test was highly reliable, this was not true of the post-test.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the Level 1 evaluation, the program was successful in terms of both participant and faculty satisfaction. However, certain areas for improvement were identified and recommendations were made in order to effect improvements for future iterations of this preceptorship.