background
To reduce the impact of a terminal breast cancer diagnosis, it is important to address knowledge gaps regarding screening guidelines, warning signs, and follow-up care. The Linda Fenner 3D Mobile Mammography Center is part of the FIU Herbert Wertheim School of Medicine. We are offering free mammography screenings to uninsured women in Miami-Dade County. In collaboration with the Mobile Mammography Initiative (MMI), a student-led organization, medical students volunteer to provide breast health education. To prepare for this role, students attend breast health education training sessions. This study evaluates the effectiveness of educational training sessions to improve students' confidence, knowledge, and interest in breast health education.
method
Student volunteers (n = 107) participated in a 1-hour session to prepare students as breast health educators. Participants completed pre- and post-training quality improvement questionnaires to assess their knowledge of breast education, comfort with implementing breast health education, and interest in participating in future educational events using a 5-point Likert scale. I was asked to participate. Descriptive analysis was performed on the collected data.
result
Eighty-two students completed the pre-training survey and 69 students completed the post-training survey. Before the training session, 23% of students reported their comfort level as somewhat comfortable or very comfortable, whereas after the survey, 74% of respondents were comfortable. 20% of students reported their knowledge level as adequate or extensive before the session compared to approximately 80% of post-survey respondents. Eighty-nine percent of students reported their pre-session interest level as moderate or very interested, compared to approximately 85 percent of post-survey respondents.
conclusion
Although community-based educational initiatives improved medical students' knowledge and comfort regarding breast health education, they did not increase students' interest in participating in educational events. Students' increased comfort and knowledge suggest that the training increased their ability to serve as community breast health educators. The high but slight decrease in the proportion of students interested in participating in breast health events may be negligible or may be due to the training requirements of the MMI program. Future efforts could focus on community residents by assessing breast health knowledge after consulting with local breast health educators.