The Asian Sarcoma Consortium sarcoma preceptorship program: A program evaluation study utilizing the kirkpatrick model (level 1 and 2)

Background@#Sarcomas, a heterogenous group of malignancies consisting of tumors, are rarely encountered in most general oncology clinics. As a result, most general oncologists have very little experience in dealing with these tumors and resulting in poorer treatment and survival outcomes. Having successful collaborative efforts in research, the Asian Sarcoma Consortium (ASC) pioneered a Sarcoma Preceptorship Program with its main goal of increasing awareness of the multidisciplinary approach in the management of sarcomas.@*Objective@#The objective of this study is to evaluate the ASC Sarcoma Preceptorship Program using the first 2 levels of the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model: Level 1) Reaction – through using satisfaction surveys; and Level 2) Knowledge – focusing on the amount of information gained from the activity evaluated by test-retest method.@*Methods@#The 2-day preceptorship program held in Singapore utilized educational activities such as didactic lectures, multidisciplinary case discussions, and case presentations. The program was evaluated using: 1) pre-test and posttest; 2) satisfaction survey from ASC; and 3) satisfaction survey made by the sponsor, Novartis Pharma.@*Results@#The preceptorship program enrolled 30 participants, most from the Asia-Pacific region. The overall results from the satisfaction surveys were generally optimistic, with results showing high levels of satisfaction with regard to the time allotment, scope of topics, and how helpful each session was. Test results showed that participants scored lower in post-test as compared to the pre-test. Computation of the Coefficient of Test reliability showed that although the pre-test was highly reliable, this was not true of the post-test.@*Conclusions@#Based on the Level 1 evaluation, the program was successful in terms of both participant and faculty satisfaction. However, certain areas for improvement were identified and recommendations were made in order to effect improvements for future iterations of this preceptorship.

Clinical features and survival outcomes of ocular melanoma in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort.

Ocular melanomas are uncommon cancers in Southeast Asia unlike in the West. We conducted a retrospective review of patients (n = 44) with histologically-proven ocular melanoma within a multi-ethnic Asian cohort from Singapore. Clinicopathological features and relapse patterns were examined, and survival outcomes of interest included recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariable Cox proportional regression. The study cohort included 18 male and 26 female patients, with a median age of 52 years (range 8-78). Median follow-up was 154 months. For uveal melanomas (n = 29), the 5-year RFS and OS was 56.8% and 76.6%, respectively; whilst for conjunctival melanomas (n = 15), the 5-year RFS and OS was 30.1% and 68.8%, respectively. Fifteen patients (38.5%) eventually developed metastasis, following which the median survival was only 17 months. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that higher T stage was a significant independent predictor for both OS (HR 8.69, 95% CI 1.03 to 73.09, p = 0.047) and RFS (HR 11.62, 95% CI 2.45 to 55.00, p = 0.002). Smoking history was independently predictive of better RFS (HR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.78, p = 0.030). In conclusion, our study demonstrates the poor ocular melanoma outcomes in Southeast Asians, highlighting the necessity for urgent research in this area of unmet clinical need.

The Asian Sarcoma Consortium Sarcoma Preceptorship Program: A program evaluation study utilizing the Kirkpatrick Model (Level 1 and 2)

Background@#Sarcomas, a heterogenous group of malignancies consisting of tumors, are rarely encountered in most general oncology clinics. As a result, most general oncologists have very little experience in dealing with these tumors and resulting in poorer treatment and survival outcomes. Having successful collaborative efforts in research, the Asian Sarcoma Consortium (ASC) pioneered a Sarcoma Preceptorship Program with its main goal of increasing awareness of the multidisciplinary approach in the management of sarcomas. @*Objective@#The objective of this study is to evaluate the ASC Sarcoma Preceptorship Program using the first 2 levels of the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model: Level 1) Reaction – through using satisfaction surveys; and Level 2) Knowledge – focusing on the amount of information gained from the activity evaluated by test-retest method. @*Methods@#The 2-day preceptorship program held in Singapore utilized educational activities such as didactic lectures, multidisciplinary case discussions, and case presentations. The program was evaluated using: 1) pre-test and posttest; 2) satisfaction survey from ASC; and 3) satisfaction survey made by the sponsor, Novartis Pharma. @*Results@#The preceptorship program enrolled 30 participants, most from the Asia-Pacific region. The overall results from the satisfaction surveys were generally optimistic, with results showing high levels of satisfaction with regard to the time allotment, scope of topics, and how helpful each session was. Test results showed that participants scored lower in post-test as compared to the pre-test. Computation of the Coefficient of Test reliability showed that although the pre-test was highly reliable, this was not true of the post-test.@*Conclusions@#Based on the Level 1 evaluation, the program was successful in terms of both participant and faculty satisfaction. However, certain areas for improvement were identified and recommendations were made in order to effect improvements for future iterations of this preceptorship.