Clinical trial NCT06598020: Evaluating the Impact of an Integrative Oncology Training Program for Healthcare Providers
Official title: Evaluating the Impact of an Integrative Oncology Training Program for Physicians, Nurses, and Medical Educators on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Implementation of Learned Clinical Skills
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Integrative Oncology
Medical Education
Palliative Care
Keywords: Medical education
Integrative oncology
Oncology
Supportive care
Lead sponsor: Carmel Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Advot Fund of Reality Group
name: Israel Cancer Association
First posted: 2024-09-19
Enrollment: 130
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The goal of this study is to learn about the short- and long-term effects of two medical education approaches to teaching integrative oncology (IO) in a multi-disciplinary group of healthcare providers attending a national IO training. The main question it aims to answer is: Does active medical education approach focusing on IO-related skills is associated with better training outcomes compared to clerkship-based observation of IO clinics? Participants (trainees) will answer online survey questions about their knowledge, attitudes, and clinical proficiencies along the training process.

Detailed description: The study is conducted within a multi-centered, prospective, controlled and randomized format, using a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology. Participants eligible for study inclusion are healthcare providers (HCPs, nurses, physicians, para-medical, or complementary medicine practitioners), age ≥ 18 years enrolling in a structured IO training program. Trainees are randomly allocated to either the Enhanced IO Training arm (Group A) or Standard IO Training arm of the study (Group B). Participants in both study arms undergo 110-hour online section of the IO training course, followed by 170-hour practical training.

Those in the Enhanced IO Training arm undergo practical training, based on the five-item competency curriculum adapted from the list of knowledge, skills, and ability-related competencies recommended by the Society for Integrative Oncology. The five-item competency-based curriculum include the following two clinical implementation competencies:

* Anxiety relief using a mind-body modality (e.g., breathing, relaxation, guided imagery)
* Improving pain with touch modalities (e.g., acupressure, acupuncture, reflexology), including use of acupressure points with established effectiveness in the reduction of cancer pain Participants in the Standard IO training group (Group B) will observe from the side during the IO practitioner-patient interaction.

The practical section of the training program will include two mentoring days, the first scheduled at the beginning of the 110-hour theory-based IO training, the second at the conclusion of this training. Participants in both study groups will be exposed during the two mentoring days to between 3-5 clinical IO therapeutic interactions with patients admitted to the oncology center.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Healthcare providers (nurses, physicians, para-medical, or complementary medicine practitioners) who have applied to and been accepted for the integrative oncology training program

Exclusion Criteria:

* Healthcare providers who were not received a letter of support from the medical administrator stating commitment to allocate at least 5 hours weekly post-training to enable the trainee practicing integrative oncology care in the medical center.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Integrative oncology competency assessment
timeFrame: At each of the two assessment points, competencies will be assessed at the beginning of the training and 6 hours later.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Qualitative assessment of trainees narratives
timeFrame: 18 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Haifa
country: Israel
facility: Lin Medical Center
Study officials:
affiliation: Carmel Medical Center
name: Eran Ben-Arye, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Witt CM, Balneaves LG, Carlson LE, Cohen M, Deng G, Fouladbakhsh JM, Kinney AY, Mehta A, Mailman J, Pole L, Rogge AA, O'Toole C, Zick SM, Helmer SM. Education Competencies for Integrative Oncology-Results of a Systematic Review and an International and Interprofessional Consensus Procedure. J Cancer Educ. 2022 Jun;37(3):499-507. doi: 10.1007/s13187-020-01829-8.