Interactive training for the management of breast cancer in general practice in Europe.

Background: General practitioners need to play a more active role in the management of patients with breast cancer, specifically in screening programs, counseling, follow-up, palliative care, and psychosocial support. Special training is needed to meet these demands.

Methods: An interactive training program resident on CD-ROM was developed. It includes nine cases designed according to the case method and three cases created for group discussions. The program also contains a self-test and an encyclopedia with facts and figures about breast cancer. The program was tested by 20 trainers/trainees in each of four participating countries.

Results: The formata, content, and usefulness of the program were ranked highly: generally between 4 and 5 on a scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high), based on 78 evaluation forms.

Conclusion: The program seems to be an adequate tool for GP training.