AYA POWER: An innovative and sustainable virtual model for AYA oncology education.

Abstract

e21014 Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs, ages 15–39) with cancer face care and outcome disparities due to complex care delivery and limited provider training in AYA-specific needs. Most pediatric and medical oncology training programs lack formal AYA oncology curricula, creating a critical educational gap. To address this, AYA POWER was developed, the first interdisciplinary, virtual curriculum for oncology trainees. AYA POWER provides high-yield education to build provider confidence, identify gaps in care, and improve outcomes for AYAs with cancer. Methods: Informed by prior needs assessments, AYA POWER curriculum has covered 16 sessions on priority topics including disparities, sexual/reproductive health, psychosocial care, financial toxicity, advanced cancer, clinical trials, and survivorship from August 2023-May 2025. Sessions featured 60-minute live monthly virtual lectures, discussion, recorded content, and shared resources. Participation was assessed using registration information, including demographic and website analytics data. Following each session, attendees completed surveys evaluating satisfaction with content and overall value of the program. Results: As of May 2025, AYA POWER has reached 2,135 engagements, reflecting attendance at live virtual sessions as well as views of on-demand lecture recordings. 1,042 participants joined the live lectures, representing 528 unique attendees, as some participants joined multiple lectures. A diverse group of AYA stakeholders attended, including nurses, social workers, pediatric oncology attendings, administrators, advanced practice providers, oncology fellows, researchers, patient advocates, psychologists, and medical oncology attendings and represented 15 countries. Anonymous feedback over the two seasons (216 respondents) was overwhelmingly positive. Respondents noted the relevance, practicality, and depth of the AYA POWER curriculum, highlighting its focus on under-discussed, evidence-based topics and actionable tools for AYA cancer care. Respondents emphasized the rarity and importance of AYA-specific education and expressed strong interest in expanded content, more case-based examples, additional topics, and continued programming. Conclusions: AYA POWER responds to a clear deficit in oncology training by delivering a flexible, scalable curriculum centered on the specialized needs of AYAs with cancer. Because AYA-focused education is often minimal or absent in traditional training programs, this initiative prioritizes topics that are frequently overlooked. Broad participation from a global, interdisciplinary audience demonstrates both the practicality of the virtual format and strong demand for continued learning across roles and regions.