The cancer cup challenge: An initiative of the Sydney West TCRC

Adverse events are a significant quality and safety issue in the hospital setting due to their direct impact on patients. Additionally, such events are often handled by junior doctors due to their direct involvement with patients. As such, it is important for health care organisations to prioritise education and training for junior doctors on identifying adverse events and handling them when they occur. How we make this education relevant and engaging remains a key challenge.

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The cancer cup challenge—running an international program in safety and quality in oncology from Cancer Institute NSW

Authors

Anna Janssen, Tim Shaw, Lauren Bradbury, Tania Moujaber, Anne Mette Nørrelykke, Jessica Zerillo, Tracy Robinson, Paul Harnett

Aims

To develop and evaluate a quality improvement and adverse event awareness program for junior oncology doctors across three international sites. 

Method

A mixed methodology was used to develop and evaluate the program. The Qstream spaced learning platform was used to disseminate information to participants, as it has been demonstrated to impact on both knowledge and behaviour. Eight short case based scenarios with expert feedback were developed by a multidisciplinary advisory committee containing representatives from the international sites. The program used a gamification element where registrars across the three sites competed in a friendly competition. At the conclusion of the course impact on participant knowledge was evaluated using analysis of the metrics collected by the Qstream platform. Additionally, an online survey and semi-structured interviews were used to evaluate engagement and perceived value by participants.

Results

A total of 35 junior doctors registered to undertake the Qstream program, with 31 (88.57 %) successfully completing it. Analysis of the Qstream metrics revealed 76.57% of cases were answered correctly on first attempt. The post-program survey received 17 responses, with 76.47% indicating cases for the course were interesting and 82.35% feeling cases were relevant. Finally, 14 participants consented to participate in semi-structured interviews about the program, with feedback towards the course being generally very positive.

Implications

Developing effective,engaging and sustainable training for doctors is important to ensure positive patient outcomes are aintained in the hospital setting. This is of particular importance with junior doctors as they work closely with patients, and they are learning skills and behaviours which will influence their practice throughout their careers.