Effect of a cancer education program on student interest and learning in cancer.

In a five-year study of medical students who had participated in a first-year elective course on cancer, the authors found that 47 percent of all participants subsequently became involved in other cancer programs. A sample (n = 40) of the participants was interviewed and studied in depth. Their subsequent expressed and overt interests in cancer were related to their achievement on neoplasm-related test items contained in second-year systemic pathology examinations and to their perception of transfer of learning from the cancer course. Neither expressed nor overt interest in cancer was significantly related to test scores on neoplasm items; but perceived transfer of learning was positively related to scores on neoplasm items, and perceived transfer and overt interest, combined, significantly related to test scores on neoplasm items in systemic pathology.