The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 2018/01, 118(1):19-25. doi: 10.7556/jaoa.2018.004, type of study: ,css,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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Keywords:

carcinoma [9]
clinical competence [227]
clinical decision making [19]
cost benefit analysis [1]
cross sectional study [894]
medical education [684]
skin neoplasms [3]
medical students [694]
USA [1752]

Abstract:

Context: As future physicians, osteopathic medical students will play a critical role in helping patients make informed decisions regarding treatment options. Objective: To examine the influence that the time, cost, and cosmetic effects associated with treatment options for basal cell carcinoma (BCC), along with students' demographic characteristics, have on treatment decision-making. The influence that different sources of information have on students was also studied. Methods: Medical students were recruited from the Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine for this cross-sectional study. Students were presented with a case scenario in which they were a patient with primary nodular BCC in a low-risk zone, and they were asked to select standard surgical excision (SSE) or Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) as a treatment option. They also completed an anonymous survey that assessed the way that factors associated with the treatment options (time, cost, and cosmetic effects) influenced their treatment choice, along with the influence that different sources of information have. Measures of central tendency, frequencies, and other descriptive analyses were used to define the characteristics of the sample. chi2 analysis, correlational analysis, and t tests were used to examine the associations between the treatment decision, treatment-related factors (time, cost, cosmetics), and year in medical school. Statistical significance was set at P