Publications by authors named "Linda D Last"

Hypothesis: Physicians seem to learn best from their peers, yet the impact of opinion leaders on physician behavior is unclear. Because colon cancer staging has been identified as being suboptimal in Ontario, Canada, we sought to evaluate the influence of expert and local opinion leaders for colon cancer on optimizing colon cancer lymph node assessment.

Design, Setting, Participants: A cluster-randomized trial including all hospitals in Ontario that identified a local opinion leader with intervention between January 5 and June 17, 2004.

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Background: Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) is a feature of the clinical course of 10-28% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and is associated with a poor prognosis. Recent advancements in palliative chemotherapy regimens have prolonged survival in patients with stage IV CRC. Few reports exist that describe outcomes in patients who have had surgery for MBO and subsequent chemotherapy as part of their treatment.

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Background: A significant gap has been documented between best practice and the actual practice of surgery. Our group identified that colorectal cancer staging in Ontario was suboptimal and subsequently developed a knowledge translation strategy using the principles of social marketing and the influence of expert and local opinion leaders for colorectal cancer.

Methods/design: Opinion leaders were identified using the Hiss methodology.

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Introduction: Educationally influential physicians (EIPs) are identified by their colleagues as people who (1) encourage learning and enjoy sharing their knowledge, (2) are clinical experts and always seem up to date, and (3) treat others as equals. We aimed to identify surgical and pathologist EIPs for colorectal cancer (CRC) in Ontario as part of a blended knowledge transfer program.

Methods: A population-based cohort of surgeons (n = 794) and pathologists (n = 449) were sent surveys modeled on the Hiss method for identifying EIPs.

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Lymph node (LN) retrieval and assessment is critically important for accurate staging and treatment planning in colorectal cancer (CRC). Practicing pathologists in Ontario were identified and surveyed by phone to identify barriers to optimal retrieval and assessment. Of the pathologists surveyed, 57.

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