WKHS CANCER TEAM TO KICK OFF WITH COURSES IN MAY

Part 1 - Proton therapy clinical education for the medical community

The Willis-Knighton Cancer Center, Shreveport, LA, USA, is expected to kick off the first training sessions of the Proton Therapy Clinical Education Program in May of this year. Organized by Penn Medicine's Roberts Proton Therapy Center, OncoLink and IBA, the courses help prepare proton therapy practitioners from different specialties to carry out safe and effective treatments from day one.

The Proton Therapy Clinical Education program encompasses both experience and expertise of the three partners, which are leaders in the fields of technology, clinical medicine, online education and technology. Their joint efforts resulted in a dedicated program for each specialist active in the clinical team, with a common-core module addressing the basics of proton therapy, and specialized modules with proton-specific education targeted to physicians, medical physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists and nurses.

The overall training is composed of e-learning sections followed by an observership at Penn Medicine's Roberts Proton Therapy Center to gain hands-on experience with international clinical experts. The Program is expected to attract some 500 students per year from the medical community for the general web-based modules. The practical courses would educate some 20 to 30 medical professionals per year, coming from IBA-driven PT centers.

For details of the program, see http://www.protontherapyeducation.com/