Aim

As physiotherapists working in a specialised oncology setting, we regularly answer queries from physiotherapists nationally, to provide education on how to manage the oncology patient population. We identified a lack of resources and education for physiotherapists working with oncology patients and wanted to develop a comprehensive education day to improve knowledge.

Method

The Peter MacCallum Physiotherapy department implemented the “Introduction to Oncology for Physiotherapists” study day. The one day course was designed for recent graduates or those with limited oncology experience, and covered the following topics: Introduction to cancer, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, cancer surgery, haematology, oncology emergencies, exercise in oncology, lymphoedema management and palliative/end of life care. It was open to public and private hospital physiotherapists throughout Victoria as well as associated community rehabilitation centres. We collected post course feedback from participants to evaluate knowledge gained in each topic and overall confidence in applying knowledge to clinical practice.

Results

From 98 participants, 80 responses were collected and analysed. Prior to the course, 95% of participants indicated absent to average levels of confidence in applying oncology knowledge to practice. Post course, 100% of participants indicated average or higher levels of confidence in applying oncology knowledge to practice, with 69% indicating high to very high levels of confidence. Areas with lowest pre course knowledge and biggest difference in pre/post course knowledge acquisition included haematology, oncology emergencies and chemotherapy. All topics covered reported significant improvement in overall knowledge from pre to post course.

Conclusion

Our study day improved participant’s knowledge in oncology and provided increased confidence to apply this knowledge in clinical practice. We aim to conduct this study day annually and intend to expand to a broader audience including private practice physiotherapists, allied health assistants, exercise physiologists and fitness educators.