Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34705530›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of radiology2021

Radiation oncology teaching provision and practice prior to and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in medical schools in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: a cross-sectional survey.

Gerard M Walls, Orla A Houlihan, Ciaran Mooney, Rebecca Prince, Katie Spencer, Ciara Lyons, Aidan J Cole, James J McAleer, Christopher Mark Jones

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of radiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Gerard M WallsCancer Centre Belfast City Hospital, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Orla A HoulihanSt Luke's Radiation Oncology Network, Dublin, Ireland.
Ciaran MooneyCancer Centre Belfast City Hospital, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Rebecca PrinceRadiotherapy Research Group, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Katie SpencerRadiotherapy Research Group, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Ciara LyonsDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland.
Aidan J ColeCancer Centre Belfast City Hospital, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
James J McAleerCancer Centre Belfast City Hospital, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Christopher Mark JonesRadiotherapy Research Group, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust · GBUniversity of Leeds · GBCork University Hospital · IELeeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust · GB

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesRadiotherapy is a key cancer treatment modality but is poorly understood by doctors. We sought to evaluate radiation oncology (RO) teaching in medical schools within the United Kingdom (UK) and Republic of Ireland (RoI), as well as any impacts on RO teaching delivery from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

methodsA bespoke online survey instrument was developed, piloted and distributed to oncology teaching leads at all UK and RoI medical schools. Questions were designed to capture information on the structure, format, content and faculty for RO teaching, as well as both the actual and the predicted short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19.

resultsResponses were received from 29/41 (71%) UK and 5/6 (83%) RoI medical schools. Pre-clinical and clinical oncology teaching was delivered over a median of 2 weeks (IQR 1-6), although only 9 (27%) of 34 responding medical schools had a standalone RO module. RO teaching was most commonly delivered in clinics or wards (

conclusionsRO teaching in the UK and RoI is limited with minimal coverage of relevant theoretical principles and little exposure to radiotherapy departments and their non-medical team members. The COVID-19 pandemic risks exacerbating trainee doctors' already constrained exposure to radiotherapy. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study provides the first analysis of radiotherapy-related teaching in the UK and RoI, and the first to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on radiationoncology teaching.

Indexed as

Schools, MedicalCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesCurriculumEducation, Medical, UndergraduateHumansIrelandPandemicsRadiation OncologySARS-CoV-2Surveys and QuestionnairesUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID34705530
PMCPMC8631035
OpenAlexW3210996338

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.