10th ESO-ESMO- EONS MASTERCLASS IN CLINICAL ONCOLOGY · Clinical sessions focused on breast,...

ESO-ESMO Masterclass in Clinical Oncology (MCO)

Chair: N. Pavlidis, GR - R.A. Stahel, CH

Scientific Coordinators: W. Gatzemeier, IT - R. Popescu, CH

ESO-EONS Masterclass in Oncology Nursing (MON)

Chair: S. Faithfull, UK

Scientific Co-ordinators: D. Papageorgiou, GR and A. Margulies, CH

In collaboration with the Flims Alumni Club

Coordinator: C. Melcher

The Masterclass was held for the third time as a joint venture with ESMO, the European Society

for Medical Oncology, and for the fourth time with EONS the European Oncology Nursing Society.

The Masterclass was part of the Sharing Progress in Cancer Care programme (SPCC) whose sustaining members are: Amgen, Eisai, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline Oncology, Merck Serono,

Genomic Health and Novartis Oncology who supported the programme with unrestricted educational grants.

ESO wishes to express its appreciation to Wolfsberg Centre for their consideration and support, and to the Flims Alumni Club for the collaboration in promoting the Masterclass.

Aims and objectives

This clinically oriented educational programme has been designed for medical or clinical oncologists who wish to improve their skills or those who are preparing for the national board

exam. The programme exposed participants to a full spectrum of issues in clinical oncology and to

practice-oriented training.

REPORT on

10th ESO-ESMO- EONS MASTERCLASS IN CLINICAL ONCOLOGY

02/04/2011 - 07/04/2011 Ermatingen (Lake Constance), Switzerland

13-18 March 2010 Ermatingen (Lake Constance),

http://www.esmo.org

Clinical sessions focused on breast, colorectal, lung, genito-urinary, gynaecological, head and

neck cancers. Spotlight sessions facilitated a compact update on haematological diseases, sarcoma, cancer of

unknown primary, new drugs in breast cancer and in oncogenic-driven malignancies, neuroendocrine tumors, cancer stem cells, palliative care, supportive care and communication

skills.

Teaching format The Masterclass offers plenary lectures regarding state-of-the-art clinical evaluation and

treatments with reference to clinical guidelines and which will conclude in take-home messages. Participants will deliver case presentations within small groups and discuss these with the chairmen and the faculty.

All participants resided at the course venue and participation was compulsory throughout the

course.

The Masterclass was entirely in English and fluency in English was necessary for admission. Participants of the concomitant Masterclass in Nursing Oncology joined selected medical sessions, whilst topics like palliative care, supportive care and communication skills were joint nursing and

medics’ sessions.

Description of the educational event: The Masterclass is

• A 5-day residential educational event • Full immersion • Clinically-oriented • Multidisciplinary • An international faculty of top experts delivering lectures focusing on breast, colorectal, gynaecological, head and neck, urological and lung cancers.

Ideal Masterclass candidate

• Age between 30 and 40 years • At least 2-3 years’ experience in medical oncology or clinical oncology • Involvement in scientific activities • Fluency in English

Attendance to the Masterclass was limited to 60 participants and admission was by competitive

application only (deadline was 1st December 2010). Successful applicants were granted free registration and accommodation.

Sessions format

Clinical Sessions:

Experts deliver clear knowledge on the state-of-the-art treatments, refer to clinical guidelines and conclude the lecture by short and clear take-home messages. Participants were invited and

encouraged to actively contribute to the discussion slots. Furthermore, practical training was offered in the frame of clinical case presentations delivered by

the participants. Participants were divided in three groups, followed by the Masterclass Chairs and Coordinator (N.

Pavlidis, R. Stahel and R. Popescu).

The session’s faculty should was mostly participating in the case presentation session of their assigned tumour type/topic.

Spotlight Sessions: Speakers provided a compact lecture focusing on the most important aspects and new

developments in the field, considering the notions that were felt of highest interest to the ideal masterclass participant.

Therefore, spotlight sessions were not overviews nor they delivered basic knowledge. Case presentations:

A clinical case abstract was part of the participants’ application procedure, and selected participants had the opportunity to present their case to the Masterclass Chair and faculty for

exchange and discussion within three small groups. The session’s faculty was mostly available to participate in the case presentation session of their

assigned tumour type/topic.

THE MASTERCLASS 2011 PROGRAMME

Masterclass in Clinical Oncology participants only

Participants of the Masterclass in Oncology Nursing join the Masterclass in Clinical Oncology sessions

Joint Masterclass in Clinical Oncology and Masterclass in Oncology Nursing sessions

Saturday, 2 April

Participants' arrival, airport transfers, registration

14:30-17:00 Clinical session: Genito-urinary cancers Chair: Alan Horwich

Prostate cancer:

14:30-14:50 Local treatment: Surgery Tullio Sulser

14:50-15:10 Local treatment: Radiotherapy Alan Horwich

15:10-15:30 First-line endocrine treatment Alan Horwich

15:30-16:00 Castration-refractory prostate cancer Karim Fizazi

16:00-16:30 Testicular cancer Alan Horwich

16:30-17:00 Metastatic renal cell cancer: Evidence based treatment Thomas Powles

17:00-17:30 Coffee break

17:30-18:30 Spotlight session Haematological diseases (lymphoma and myeloma) Michele Ghielmini

18:30-19:30 Keynote lecture What medical oncologists must know today on clinical trials Martin Fey

20:00 Welcome dinner

Sunday, 3 April

8:30-10:30 Clinical session Breast cancer I Chair: Aron Goldhirsch

8:30-9:30 Early systemic treatment Aron Goldhirsch

9:30-10:30 Treatment of metastatic disease and neoadjuvant therapy Elzbieta Senkus-Konefka


11:00-13:00 Clinical session Breast cancer II Chair: Aron Goldhirsch

11:00-11:45 Pathology of breast cancer Giuseppe Viale

11.45-12:30 Radiotherapy: Key points Jacques Bernier

12:30-13:00 Tumour board - local treatment decision making (based on clinical cases)

Panel

(cases prepared by

Wolfgang Gatzemeier)

13:00-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:00 Spotlight session New drugs in subsets of breast cancer Giuseppe Curigliano

15:00-16:30 Joint medics and nurses spotlight session Supportive care Chair: Lena Sharp

15:00-15:45 Fatigue management Agnes Glaus

15:45-16:30 Antiemetics, growth factors, bone health Matti Aapro

16:30-17:00 Spotlight session Triple negative breast cancer: An overview

(SPCC lecture Sanofi-Aventis) Joseph Gligorov


17:30-19:00 Case presentations by participants - 3 groups

(Genito-urinary, Breast, Supportive care)

N. Pavlidis, R. Popescu,

R.A. Stahel

19:30 Dinner

Monday, 4 April

8:30-10:30 Clinical session Gynaecological cancers Chair: Jan B. Vermorken

8:30-9:30 Ovarian cancer Jan B. Vermorken

9:30-10:30 Cervical and endometrial cancers Cristiana Sessa


11:00 -13:00 Spotlight session Head and neck cancer Chair: Jacques Bernier

11:00-11:30 Prognostic factors and surgical approach Andreas Dietz

11:30-12:00 Radiotherapy Jacques Bernier

12:00-13:00 Systemic therapy Jan B. Vermorken

13:00-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:30 Spotlight session Recent developments in the field of cancer stem cells and

implications in the clinical setting Malcolm R. Alison

15:30-16:00 Spotlight session EORTC G-CSF Guidelines – What’s new? (SPCC lecture Amgen) Matti Aapro

16:00-16:30 Spotlight session New drugs in oncogenic-driven malignancies (thyroid, melanoma) Rolf A. Stahel

16:30-17:00 Spotlight session Positron emission tomography-computed tomography in oncology:

When, where and how to use it Chirag Patel



(Gynae, Head and neck, Colorectal)


R.A. Stahel

19:30 Dinner

Tuesday, 5 April

8:30-10:30 Clinical session Colorectal cancer I Chair: Eric Van Cutsem

8:30-9:00 Imaging (correlation with pathology) Regina Beets-Tan

9:00-9:45 Management of rectal cancer (surgery and radiotherapy) David Sebag-Montefiore

9:45-10:15 Adjuvant treatment (stage 2 and 3) Philippe Rougier

10:15-10:30 Neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment of liver metastases of colorectal cancer Eric Van Cutsem


11:00-13:00 Clinical session Colorectal cancer II Chair: Eric Van Cutsem

11:00-12:00 Advanced disease and new developments Eric Van Cutsem

12:00-13:00 Gastric and pancreatic cancers Philippe Rougier

13:00-13:30 Spotlight session Targeted therapies in metastatic colorectal cancer: The impact for

the surgeon (SPCC lecture Merck Serono) Graeme J. Poston

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30 Departure, social activity, dinner out

Wednesday, 6 April

8:30-10:30 Clinical session Lung cancer I Chair: Rolf A. Stahel

8.30-9:00 Surgery Walter Weder

9:00-9:30 Radiotherapy Corinne Faivre-Finn

9:30-10:15 NSCLC systemic therapy Rolf A. Stahel


11:00-12:30 Clinical session Lung cancer II Chair: Rolf A. Stahel

11:00-11:30 SCLC Corinne Faivre-Finn

11:30-12:00 Mesothelioma Rolf A. Stahel

12:00-12:30 Tumour board (clinical cases prepared by the faculty) Panel

12:30-13:00 Spotlight session - Neuroendocrine tumours Kjell Öberg

13:00-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:15 Spotlight session Sarcoma Paolo Casali

15:15-16:30 Joint medics and nurses spotlight session Multidisciplinary working and communication skills

Andrew Hoy

16:30-17:00 Spotlight session Criteria to evaluate genomic tests (SPCC lecture Genomic Health) Christer Svedman



(Lung, Palliative care)


R.A. Stahel

19:30 Dinner

Thursday, 7 April

8:30-9:30 Spotlight session Cancer of unknown primary Nicholas Pavlidis

9:30-10:00 Spotlight session Circulating tumour cells: Challenges and pitfalls Fiona Blackhall


10:30-12:00 Joint medics and nurses spotlight session Palliative care Chair: Anita Marguiles

10:30-11:15 Pain control Dirk Schrijvers

11:15-12:00 Advanced disease management Andrew Hoy

12:00-12:15 Closure

12:30 Airport transfers and departures

The European School of Oncology (ESO) is an independent organisation. It recognises that

the industrial partners are crucial for the delivery of best cancer care and fosters the continuation of the dialogue and identification of synergies. It restrains, however, the influence of marketing

and strives to maintain its independence from the sponsors with whom it interacts with a neutral approach. Since its inauguration in 1982, ESO has been promoting cancer education in Europe and abroad.

The original idea of the school is to fight against cancer in optimising training and updating

competence of physicians and health care workers dealing with cancer patients in providing them with a comprehensive understanding of oncology - covering all aspects from epidemiology, screening, primary and secondary prevention, molecular-biology, diagnostic procedures,

interdisciplinary treatment modalities, rehabilitation, palliative care, to psycho-oncological skills and promoting the importance of controlled randomised trials in clinical oncology. ESO’s mission is

reflected in its motto "Learning to Care", which stresses the concept of studying and learning and also of caring for the patient in a global sense. By improving the skills of all health professionals dealing with cancer patients, ESO shortens the length of time needed to transfer knowledge from

advanced research centres to daily practice, combining advanced technology with humanism in care.

Summary: Participants appreciated the high level of this educational event and the broad

opportunities for informal discussion with the faculty during sessions and beyond. Mediating oncological knowledge and principles in this way of full immersion in modern oncology create a collective spirit of teaching and learning to improving clinical skills and patient care.

The evaluation of the participants opinion (questionnaire focussing on programme objectives,

programme organisation, course organisation, facilities, and faculty) indicated that the Masterclass met the needs of the participants on most of the items and highlighted the necessity of such an event. The results of this evaluation will be in particular useful to further improve the

upcoming 11thMasterclass which will be held in 2012.

Wolfgang Gatzemeier, M.D. ESO Masterclass Scientific Co-ordinator

Attachments: - 1 .Evaluation of the Masterclasses 2011 (MCO; MON)

- 2. Group photos (MCO; MON) - 3. Publications on Masterclasses

The ESO Masterclass:where those most eager to learn meet

those most willing to teach

� Peter McIntyre

Once a year, in a quiet location somewhere in Europe, 60 of the continent’s brightest andmost

motivated young oncologists gather for a learning experience that can define their careers. This

week-longMasterclass lies at the very heart of ESO’smission, building an army of brilliant and

caring young oncologists, many of whomwill be the leaders of tomorrow.

34 � CANCER WORLD � SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Masterclass

would not let them go for a week. So the courseswere cut back to one or two days.

“Now we have 60 students for a week. This isexactly what people of this age need. They are nowat the agewhen they have to choosewhat specialtythey will follow but options are still open to them.You cannot comehere through paying a registrationfee. You have to write a motivation about why youwant to come and you have to prepare a case studyand then youmay be accepted.”

LEARNING FROM DIFFICULT CASESWhat is now theESO–ESMOMasterclass inClin-icalOncology celebrated its 10th anniversary inApril2011 at theWolfsbergCentre, by LakeConstance,inSwitzerland.The venue (it belongs toUBS invest-ment bankers) exudes a sense of calm order. TheMasterclass is a ferment of bubbling activity.

The daily routine is rigorous: breakfast by8.00am, first presentation at 8.30am, and (withbreaks) presentations through till 4.30pm.Then theday begins again, as the participants split intogroups and present and discuss case studies fromtheir own hospitals. By the time they close, it hasbeen 11 hours of intense concentration.

Thepresentations read like aWho’s WhoofEuro-peanoncology:AronGoldhirschonbreast cancer, JanVermorkenongynaecological cancers, JacquesBernieron head and neck cancers, Eric van Cutsem oncolorectal cancer, Rolf Stahel on lung cancer.

For the case study discussions, nobody brings astraightforward case. Thehistory is revealed step bystep, usually with recurrence or complications fol-lowing treatment and some tough choices at theend.With 15 to 20 young oncologists in each groupthere are echoes of the hit TV series House, inwhichbright youngdoctors outdo eachother indiag-noses and suggested treatment.

The faculty member for one group is NicholasPavlidis, professor at the Department of MedicalOncology in Ioannina,Greece, and joint chair of theMasterclass.He’s far too nice to be ‘DrHouse’, butthere is somethingmagical about his ability to popupwith a slide containing themost relevant researchresults during discussion.

And (unIike the malignant Dr House) Pavlidisalways brings the students back to the human per-spective– these arenot casesbutpeople. Soonecasestudy involvesamotherof twochildrendiagnosedwith

The European School of Oncology wasfamously founded on a misdiagnosis andits unique selling point is to prevent tragedies

based on ignorance and lack of education.The legacy on which the School was launched

in 1982was bequeathed by an Italian businessmanwho was treated for a year for arthritis before dis-covering that his pain came from bone metastasesoriginating from undiagnosed prostate cancer.

Thewholepremise of theSchool is thatmistakeslike this would not happen if doctors were bettereducated about cancer and if specialists were up todate with and applied the latest research and bestclinical practice. The Milan group who createdESO was evangelical about improving doctors’knowledge and understanding about latest treat-ments and diagnostic tools.

ESOeducation is about incorporating researchthat updates state-of-the-art best practice, whileretaining tried and tested treatments thatwork. It isthe application of knowledge to the treatment ofpatients that is at the heart of ESO initiatives,exemplified in its motto ‘Learning to care’.

It does this by enlisting the best experts fromaroundEurope to present the evidence for first-linetherapies and subsequent treatments, asking andanswering “what if” questions on the way. Theemphasis is on multidisciplinary ways of workingand the importance of becoming a true specialist sothat all patients are in the hands of doctors whoknow the evidence and how to apply it.

In the variety of ESO courses – Inside Track,Insight conferences, a course formedical students– the Masterclass in Clinical Oncology for youngoncologists has come tobe seen as a key event bring-ing together those most eager to learn and thosemost willing to teach.

The annual Masterclass is a week of intensivelearning and interaction for 60 of the brightest andbest: 30- to 40-year-olds on the cusp of decidingtheir ultimate oncology specialism. The course isdedicated to medical and clinical oncologists andthe focus is on the big killers: lung, breast, prostate,colorectal and gynaecological cancers.

AlbertoCosta, director of ESO, says that theseMasterclasses take the School back to its roots.“Whenwe startedESO, courseswere like this – oneweek residential courses. But then people had nomoney and peoplewere too busy, and the hospitals

Masterclass

CANCER WORLD � SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 � 35

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colorectal cancer in 2008. She has been treated foraggressive disease and liver metastases with cyto-reductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitonealchemotherapy (HIPEC).ByMarch2011, aftermanycyclesof treatment, there isnoobvious signofdisease.Should they be adopting invasive diagnostic tests?Pavlidis askswhat theoutcomewill be if thecancerhasreturned and all agree that they will have run out ofoptions. Gently, he suggests that the additional testswill bring distress to the patient without benefit.

Another case concerns a youngwomanwhopre-sented with adenocarcinoma, and was initiallytreated apparently successfully. But, after recurrenceand further treatment, hepatic metastases werefound. Despite hepatic metastasectomy, it is clearthat the cancer has not been cured. Pavlidis pointsout that she is still alive six years after her initial diag-nosis, and formuchof that timehas been able to live

a normal life. Is this a treatment that has failed, asthe young doctormay feel, or one that has given thisyoung woman years of good-quality life, criticalyears with her young children?

Pavlidis has been described as the ‘father’ of theMasterclass. Almost 30 years ago, in 1982, as ayoung Fellow at the RoyalMarsdenHospital in theUK, he attended the first ESO course inMilan. “Ifyou look at who were participants then, more than50%of themarenowprofessors inuniversities insideoroutsideEurope,”hesays.He is sure thispatternwillbe repeatedwith the currentMasterclass series.

“Weoffer real educationbydistinguished expertsfromEurope.Whatmakes the difference is that notonly do you teach the big killers but you also havethese people sitting in these kind of groups pre-senting their ownclinical cases.Weanalyse andcrit-icise and give directions.”


Masterclass

What if…? Students bring difficult case studies for discussionwith international experts such as lung cancer specialist RolfStahel, pictured here

There is something magical about his ability to pop

up with a slide containing the most relevant research

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UP FOR THE CHALLENGEThe participants are clearly up for the challenge.JochanBauerqualifiedas adoctor sevenyears agoandnowworks in internalmedicineat theEsslingenHos-pital in Germany, specialising in cancer and haema-tology. “My consultant took part in this Masterclassseveral yearsagoandrecommended itwarmly,”hesaid.“He is certainly right about this. It updates youon thefacts and on standard diagnosis and treatment. It ishardwork, but it is definitely worth it.”

Andreia Costa, a medical oncology fellow atthe Hospital de São João, Portugal, takes her finalmedical oncology exams in 2012. “This is a fantas-tic revision for me and it is very important for mytraining. It is very intensive, but we do get somebreaks between sessions. I particularly value thedis-cussion of the cases in small groups andover coffee.”

Davit Zohrabyan, a medical oncologist at theYerevanStateMedicalUniversityHospital inArme-nia, sees the course as a lifeline to knowledge thatis not easily available in his home country.He savedup the questions he could not answer at home sohecould ask the experts here. “Armenia is a smallcountry and it is not rich and it does not have bigresearch programmes. It is very important for meand for my country that I get acquainted with thenew methods and practice. I want to be informedwith all the important new scientific knowledge. Iwant to work together with science.”

Inevitably, after 10 years, the pupils start tobecome teachers. Elżbieta Senkus-Konefka wasone of 53 students on the very firstMasterclass heldinMontecantini, Italy, in 2002.Now a specialist inradiotherapy and medical oncology in Gdansk,Poland, she has returned for the past two years tolecture on treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

“My career is an example of someonewho grad-uates from these courses and then becomes anexpert.When I applied Iwas just starting onmedicaloncology. I wrote that this was at a very importantpoint formebecause I had just switched to a secondspecialty. Ten years ago hardly anyone from eastern

Europe went to international conferences or wasconsidered an expert. Iwas one of the few to do so.”

Razvan Popescu, medical oncologist at theHirslandenClinic inAarau, Switzerland, is one oftwo scientific coordinators. “One of the reasonswhy I became involved is because of the experi-ence of both good and bad quality teaching that Ihave had myself.”

Popescu is active with the European Society forMedical Oncology (ESMO), and in his work on theESMOawardscommitteehesawmanyCVsof youngdoctors from eastern Europe who needed support.“Certaincountries, not exclusively in central andeast-ernEurope, have teaching that ismandatory for themto attend, but it does not take them forward – theydon’t learn. These young people are the future of

“More than 50% of the class of 1982 are now

professors in universities inside or outside Europe”

Masterclass


AN EXCELLENT REPORT CARD

Students rate the Masterclass highly for useful and relevant educationA review of doctors attending the first nine Masterclasses shows thatalmost 60% were aged 30–34, and 37% were aged 35–45. Partic-ipants were evenly divided, males and females.The vast majority of participants (72%) were medical oncologists, with6% radiation oncologists and 6% clinical oncologists. Some had notyet finally decided on their areas of specialisation. Two thirds (67%)came from European Union countries, 25% from non-EU countriesof Europe and 8% from outside Europe – mainly the Middle East andLatin America.Feedback by students is very positive. Over the first nine years theoverall median score for the quality of education was of 3.54 outof 4. Information was rated as useful and relevant (median 3.64) andwell balanced with good evidence (3.59), with adequate time for dis-cussion and questions (3.51).Masterclasses have been held in Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgariaand Portugal, but the Wolfsberg Centre, at Ermatingen, Switzerland,received almost perfect scores for facilities, management andorganisation, and it is clear that ESO hopes it will be able to return.Source: N Pavlidis et al. (2010) The Masterclass of the European School of

Oncology: The ‘key educational event’ of the school. Eur J Cancer 46:2159–65

oncology in Europe.What ESOhas been doing, andI am delighted it is now doing it in partnership withESMO, has been to set up a very, very good course.One of themain drivers forme to continue to partic-ipate is the live interactionwhichdevelopsbetweenthefaculty and students.Theyget thecrèmeofEuropeanoncology coming and lecturing, but also interactingwith them.”

Should the course ease up a little? Can anyoneconcentrate for 11 hours a day? The other coordi-nator,WolfgangGatzemeier, believes that the ben-efit isworth thepain. “At thebeginning, I say you arehere for a marathon. I did it for 10 years and I sur-vived and you will survive as well. I know it is noteasy to followpresentations for such a long time, butthey also have time to reflect and talk to eachother.”He points out that the students do not haveto remember everything as they get a book of pre-sentations and access to the slides online.

THE LATEST DATA - IN CONTEXTGatzemeier, a breast surgeon, believes that theMasterclasses have added value over the large sci-entific conferences. “When you go to themajor con-ferences and congresses you can get lost in all thatthey have to offer. Here, in thismore relaxed ambi-ence, people are taught by top faculty in a veryintensive way. The most important information ispresented and everybodyhas an opportunity to gainasmuch as possible fromwhat is offered.

“We ask people at the end if it is too much andyes, some complain that it is too compressed, butthey also always ask us to do something more aswell! Fromour follow-up,we see that formany par-ticipants this was a crucial point in their career, sothat theymay have the opportunity to becomeheadof a department.”

ESO is not resting on its laurels. InMay this yearit held aBalkanMasterclass inClinicalOncology inDubrovnik,Croatia, co-chaired by Popescu,who isoriginally fromRomania, and by Semir Bešlija fromthe Institute ofOncology in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Likethe full Masterclass, this was a residential course


Masterclass

“From our follow-up, we see that for many

participants this was a crucial point in their career”

It’s for nurses too. Twenty-two cancer nurses attendeda nursing Masterclass held in parallel; this group isdiscussing issues in patient communication

paid for by sponsors, although slightly shorter, atthree days. TheBalkans coursewas also open to sur-geons,who arenot coveredby themainMasterclass.

Popescu explained that the aimwas to devise acourse that was particularly relevant to the clinicalenvironment in the region. “Some people comeand hear things that they won’t ever be able to putinto practice, like monoclonals and targeted smallagents that cost a fortune.

“There are a fewpeople from the regionwho areexceptionally bright and sometimesmanage to cometo western institutions and do superbly well. It ispainful that if they want to return to their ownregion they find they are not only struggling withfinancial issues, they are also strugglingwith systemicissues and the culture.”

A MASTERCLASS IN CANCER NURSINGTheMasterclass in Switzerlandwas not only aboutdoctors: 22nurses also attended from15countries.It was the tenth Masterclass for doctors, and thefourth for nurses. Funding is in place for thenursing

PETERMCINTYRE

course to takeplace alongside themedical course forthe next two years. Some presentations are sharedwithmedics, but thenurses also break out to look atthe advanced practice of nursing cancer patients.

SaraFaithfull, President of theEuropeanOncol-ogy Nursing Society (EONS), chaired the nursingcoursewithmany of the same objectives. “The ideais that we are training future leaders, so this is verymuchabout clinical experience andabout looking atkey skills and developing practice. We have lookedat putting in place the advanced assessment skillsthat inmany countries aren’t systematic or taught. Itis not just about the latest breast cancer treatment,it is about how you would, as a nurse, manage tar-geted therapies andmanage the side-effects and lookmore specifically at the quality of life issues andenhancing care.”

The pedagogical methods used by the nurses areverydifferent,basedaroundgroupworkandgroupdis-cussion. In a communication segment they discusshow to respondwhen apatient inevitably asks: “Howlong have I got?” or when a relative says: “Don’t tellthemwhat they have got.”

Nurse training and practice differ across Europe,andEONShas beenworking to improve online train-ingopportunities fornurses,manyofwhomget less thanthree days a year away from the ward for training. Butaswith thedoctors, there is little thatcanbeat the face-to-face interaction.

Sandrine Decosterd, from theGenevaUniversityHospitals, feels thatthispersonal sharingof experienceandmotivation is most valuable. “Thiscoursealsogives youa lotofknowledgein a short time–both scientific knowl-edge and nursing knowledge.”

Elana Laska teaches palliativecare nursing inAlbania, where thereare few oncology nurses.As an advo-cate to improve the role and skills ofnurses, she was keen to share herknowledge when she got home.“Every time I go for training I prepare

a report. I hold meetings with the team and givethem my experiences. I write notes every nightaboutwhat I have seen and all the things I am think-ing about howwe can do something differently.”

EONSisplanning togetacademicaccreditation forthe next nurseMasterclass using case studies onlineafterwards to see how it has changednurses’practice.

AlbertoCosta feels that theMasterclass conceptis much stronger when it includes doctors andnurses and he praises the sponsors for puttingmoney into education,withoutwanting to put theirnames all over everything.

Cutting the cake to mark the 10th anniversaryof the medical Masterclass, he pointed out thatthere are now more than 500 people who havebeen through the course, “a little army of brilliantyoung oncologists all over Europe”.

The average age of those attending the courseseems tobedropping and themajority areunder35. Itwillnotbemanyyearsbefore thestudentsattending theMasterclass will not even have been bornwhenESObegan.Fornow, it canbe said that theyhave grownuptogetherandthat together theyundoubtedlymakeadif-ference to the practice of oncology.

The Masterclass is funded by an unrestricted grant from a pool ofsponsors through ESO’s Sharing Progress in Cancer Care programme

Masterclass


Happy 10th anniversary. ChatrinaMelcher, one of the organisers, withESO director Alberto Costa (right)and co-chair Nicolas Pavlidis (left)celebrate with cake and presents E

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