Title
American society of clinical oncology-sponsored oncology student interest groups in Latin America
Date Issued
30 September 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Brito-Hijar A.D.
Gutierrez-Narvaez C.A.
Molina-Ruiz A.R.
Simo-Mendoza V.
Gonzalez-Woge M.
De la O Murillo A.
Leon-Ferre R.
Publisher(s)
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Abstract
PURPOSE To describe the characteristics of the members of the ASCO-sponsored Oncology Student Interest Groups (OSIGs) in Latin America. METHODS This was a multicenter cross-sectional study. We surveyed 97 OSIG members from three medical schools in Peru and Mexico. We administered a 60-question survey covering topics including personal background, oncology training experience, and professional practice expectations and preferences. RESULTS A little more than one half of the surveyed OSIG members were female. More than one half had a visa to visit the United States and had an advanced level of English. One half of the OSIG members were also ASCO members. Most participants agreed or strongly agreed that participation in their OSIG increased their interest in cancer-related specialties (94%) and provided professional networking opportunities (94%) and that it was accessible to all students (91%). Most participants believed that their OSIG had sufficient resources to carry out its activities. Students were asked to rate their interest when they entered medical school versus at the time of the survey. Most of the members were strongly interested in pursuing surgical oncology. The majority of members were somewhat interested or very interested in palliative care and medical oncology. CONCLUSION To our knowledge, this is the first study that provides data on medical student perceptions of the Latin American OSIGs sponsored by ASCO. Student perceptions of medical oncology and the impact of OSIGs were generally positive. Given the shortages of oncology specialists in Latin American and elsewhere, strategies to engage medical students in the pursuit of cancer-related careers are becoming increasingly essential.
Start page
1439
End page
1445
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Oncología
Salud pública, Salud ambiental
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85092496192
PubMed ID
Source
JCO Global Oncology
ISSN of the container
26878941
Sponsor(s)
We express our sincere thanks to Breandan Richard Quinn for his help and assistance in editing and proofreading this article. This publication was supported by CTSA Grant Number KL2 TR002379 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus