Radiotherapy in cancer care

Patient wellness

People with a cancer diagnosis often lose themselves in the process. They can go from confident, independent people to where every aspect of their life is being managed by someone else which can impact the transition they have to undergo at the end of treatment. This session will focus on using exercise and relaxation to promote wellness not only during treatment but also during cancer rehabilitation.

Clinical trials

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" Albert Einstein

Since 2004, the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA) has led the Asia Pacific in educating health professionals in clinical trial design. Collaborating with international organisations including the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the Cancer Council Australia and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia, MOGA has developed a six day educational program targeting all disciplines of cancer research to improve and advance clinical trial design in the Australia and Asia Pacific region.

Workshop participants are selected through a merit based application process whereby each individual applicant must present a clinical trial protocol to develop throughout the Workshop and subsequently conduct in a clinical setting. The underpinning goals of ACORD consist of imparting principles of good clinical trial design which yield clear results to apply in the clinic and future research and exposing participants to the full spectrum of challenges in clinical research, from conventional antineoplastic agents and multidisciplinary treatment regimens to biological therapy. A variety of educational components aid Workshop participants in successful protocol design, including development sessions where participants present and discuss their clinical trial proposal in detail.

Session topics are extensive and include areas such as global cancer research, principles of clinical trials design, phase I-III trials, basic biostatistics, epidemiology, meta-analysis and systematic review. This unique regional Workshop maintains a substantial position in oncology education due to its international focus and provision of hands-on collaboration and guidance by a world renowned Faculty. The ACORD Faculty includes some of the leading world experts in clinical trials design and oncology. 

The ratio of Faculty to participants is maintained at three to one to facilitate individual project focus and learning. Participants, many fully sponsored, from all areas of the globe, come together to bridge cultural gaps in the name of science. Past Workshop participants have come from India, Nepal, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Iran, Bangladesh, Philippines, Pakistan, United States of America, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Heart of the hospital 

Heart of Health is a science-based, secular meditation-based compassionate care development programme in which staff learn and practice meditation, relaxation, mindfulness, compassion and self-compassion skills. It is mental and emotional fitness training within the team environment supporting a compassionate workplace and wellbeing of staff and enabling compassionate patient care.

Heart of Health was successfully piloted by the Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) at the Canterbury Emergency Department and RPA Oncology. SLHD have now extended this programme to 10 other teams across the health system with a projected 30+ teams participating in regular team-based meditation sessions by 2017. Evidence suggests that this programme has increased staff and patient satisfaction/ morale, increased staff resilience and reduced the incidence of sick leave.