Cancer skills laboratories for medical students: a promising approach for cancer education.

Background: Most medical students graduate without the skills necessary to assist patients in cancer control. To address this problem, the authors developed a cancer skills laboratory for second-year medical students.

Methods: The skills laboratory consists of two hours of training, with 15 minutes allotted per station (six to eight students assigned per station). Faculty and fellows lead the stations on prostate cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, skin cancer, counseling for smoking cessation, and a discussion of anti-tobacco advertisements. Students completed pre- and post-laboratory surveys consisting of ten brief questions.

Results: Overall, 94% of eligible students in 1997 and 1998 completed the surveys. Using a five-point scale, self-rated skill level increased from 2.12 to 3.83 when all modalities were averaged (p < .001).

Conclusions: Cancer skills laboratories are a promising new means for cancer education.