Developing quality cancer survivorship care competencies for primary care: A modified Delphi study.

Abstract

e13780 Background: Most of the growing population of people living with and beyond cancer will access primary care. However, the aspects of cancer survivorship care that primary care clinicians should deliver have not been clearly defined. In 2016, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Core Curriculum for Cancer Survivorship outlined competencies, though these were not specifically targeting the primary care workforce. We aim to define primary care-specific cancer survivorship competencies. Methods: In 2025, the ASCO Core Curriculum was reviewed by the Education Workgroup of the National Cancer Institute’s Interdisciplinary Network for Survivorship and Primary Care Research and Education (INSPiRE). This workgroup, comprising 18 survivorship experts from oncology, primary care, and lived experience, met for one-hour monthly virtual meetings from January to June 2025. The workgroup discussed 11 topics of survivorship care: (1) survivorship; (2) surveillance; (3) treatment effects; (4) chronic disease management; (5) health promotion and disease prevention; (6) psychosocial care; (7) survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers; (8) older adults with cancer; (9) survivors living with incurable, advanced, or metastatic cancers; (10) caregivers of survivors; and (11) communication and coordination of care. Members reviewed competencies within these topics, with suggestions for removing, modifying, or adding competencies to be primary care-specific. Transcripts and meeting notes were reviewed, and two authors drafted competency statements that were circulated to the full workgroup for further refinement. To reach consensus, we are conducting a two-step Delphi process to assess the strength of the workgroup’s 52 proposed primary-care specific survivorship competencies by contacting members of INSPiRE, the Society of General Internal Medicine Cancer Research Interest Group, and the North American Primary Care Research Group Cancer Special Interest Group (approximately 270). Results: Available results from the forthcoming Delphi process will be presented at the meeting. Conclusions: Competencies in cancer survivorship tailored for primary care are a critical step needed to train current and future primary care clinicians and thus equip primary care to provide quality cancer survivorship care to the increasing population of survivors.