Learning About Cancer Education in Wroclaw, Poland

Dear Readers,

This year we welcome Dr. Charles Kelly, Dr. Darren Starmer, and Dr. Graham Dark to the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE) Academy of Fellows. They join Dr. Jill Hamilton and Dr. Joy Notter as this year’s nominees.

Dr. Charles G. Kelly, MBChB, MSc, FAACE, FRCP(Lond), FRCP(Glasg), FRCR, FBIR, MFCI, DMRT(Edin) is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he worked as an NHS (National Health Service) consultant for nearly 30 years. Dr. Kelly is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University.

Dr. Kelly was appointed a Consultant Clinical Oncologist in Newcastle in October 1993, treating almost all tumor subsites with an additional clinic in Durham. Though Dr. Kelly treats many cancer types, the head and neck cancer and skin cancer are his specialties. In addition to his clinical practice, he has interests in medical education, medical ethics, and law. He practices as a legal medical expert.

Dr. Kelly initiated the development of the Newcastle University online MSc diploma and certificate courses in Oncology and Palliative Care, which started in 2001. The first graduates were in 2003, and Dr. Kelly and his colleagues are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the course. During this time, he has been Degree Programme Director for two periods and has led the three clinical oncology modules continuously since the start of the course. He has an interest in how established educational theories are used in medical and health professional teaching. Dr. Kelly is a board member of the European Association for Cancer Education (EACE) and past president.

Dr. Darren Starmer, BN, MEdStds (Hons), PhD, FEACE, FAACE, is a Professor and Head of Assessment, School of Medicine, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Western Australia. Dr. Starmer’s research efforts reflect his commitment to enhancing cancer and palliative care education. His most recent research projects involve working with medical students in Australia. He was the principal investigator for the Medical Student Exposure to Cancer Patients project. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nature of opportunistic encounters with cancer placements during clinical teaching placements in the final 2 years of the MBBS course at the School of Medicine (Fremantle), The University of Notre Dame Australia. Prior to this study, Dr, Starmer was the principal investigator for the Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduates (PCC4U) Project: The University of Notre Dame Australia Medical Graduates, Fremantle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of inclusion of palliative care in courses, factors that impact inclusion of palliative care, changes in student knowledge, confidence, values and attitudes after palliative care education, and evaluation and outcomes of using the PCC4U learning resources. Dr. Starmer is the author of several peer-reviewed publications and has participated in several educational workshops. He is past president of EACE and has served as the Journal for Cancer Education Associate Editor for International Submissions.

I had the pleasure of working with AACE fellows Drs. Kelly, Notter, and Starmer at the 34th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Association for Cancer Education held in Wroclaw, Poland. Wroclaw is a beautiful city located near the border of the Czech Republic and Germany. The theme for this year’s meeting was Bridging the Gap: Disparities in Cancer Education.

The first day of the meeting featured two morning pre-conference workshops. The first workshop, Career Advancement Through Leadership Development in Cancer Education, was led by Dr. Ewa Szumacher and her colleagues. They shared examples of leadership styles and how they were applied to promote change in educational environments. This was followed by participation of the audience in an interactive discussion. Discussion topics included incorporating multiple leadership styles and medical student mentoring.

The second workshop, Integrating Patients as Educators in Training and Continuing Educational Development Programs, addressed the benefits and controversies of incorporating patients in educational programs. A palliative-care case presented for discussion served as a very nice introduction to Ms. Hadas Amiel’s workshop, Let’s Talk about Death and Dying. Each participant was paired with a partner to discuss questions about death and dying. Ms. Amiel skillfully guided the international group in sharing their thoughts.

Following the workshops there were two medical school student presentations. Jakub Ciesielka’s presentation about cancer education apps and Krotofil Mateusz’s presentation about lessons learned from a surgical procedure generated questions from the audience and a sharing of personal experiences.

The second day of the meeting began with a case presentation by Dr. Jolanta Cholewa, a breast oncologist caring for patients in Wroclaw. We enjoyed learning about a develo** program focusing on timely comprehensive care for patients with breast cancer.

The next presentation addressed the bladder cancer support groups for woman with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Dr. Gilad Amiel, a surgical urologic oncologist, shared the epidemiology and risk factors for develo** bladder cancer and benefits of a support group focusing on woman with bladder cancer. The program was initiated by a surgical resident that he had mentored.

Dr. Radoslaw Tarkowski, a breast cancer surgeon and co-host of the meeting, led a discussion about the history of breast cancer care from early treatment to achieving the current standards. He also spoke about enhancing access to cancer care for the Ukrainian refugees and mentoring students and residents. It was such a pleasure to hear the research that his mentees presented throughout the conference.

Ms. Anna Granas and her colleagues then discussed the care of patients with breast cancer to enhance their quality of life and well-being. They described the benefits of the yoga program “Onkojoga” and plans to develop the program further.

Dr. Kathleen Heneghan’s presentation focused on assessing and managing surgical risks for the geriatric oncology population. She demonstrated the use of a geriatric risk-assessment tool based on a clinical case. Dr. Heneghan is the Assistant Director of Patient Education for the American College of Surgeons. She generously offered to share several education tools with the audience.

Dr. Luber-Szumniak, our colleague working in Sweden, presented E-education. A recent educational offering from the program is Cancer Rehabilitation. Dr. Luber-Szumniak also shared a video, Meet Lars—a Patient Story. This was a story of a patient living with metastatic colon cancer and the benefit of having electronic access to hospital resources from a patient’s perspective.

Dr. Darren Starmer shared his skillfully researched work on integrating cancer education into the medical school curriculum, entitled Develo** a Cancer Education Framework for Australian Medical Schools. He presented the three-phase study using a mixed-methods approach with international input. The overarching themes for the curriculum were providing basic knowledge of modern cancer management and the fundamental principles underpinning this, and experiential learning, including caring for dying patients. Dr. Starmer has already shared his curriculum with international colleagues.

Jakub Szczepankiewicz presented, Breaking Bad News: Competence, Education, and Experience Among Medical Students and Young Doctors. He presented the results of a survey that was distributed to medical students in 2017 and 2023. Questions included: In what class should this content be taught? and Have you heard about breaking bad news? He concluded the presentation by sharing a personal experience with sharing bad news and lessons he has learned. Here, too, the audience shared their experiences and offered some suggestions.

Dr. Shine Chang, a cancer epidemiologist, led a discussion about Dissemination and Implementation Science for Cancer Prevention and Control in Low-Resource Environments. She shared potential barriers to implementing cancer prevention and control programs. Her presentation was followed by small group discussions in which participants readily shared their thoughts about additional potential barriers. Her presentation allowed the audience to share in possible solutions to a problem that is not well understood.

The day’s agenda ended with two presentations. The Milly Haagedoorn Lecture Building the Future of Cancer Education: Seven Reasons for Optimism was presented by Dr. Szumacher. Among other encouraging news for the future in cancer education, she discussed global collaboration, embracing a grand challenge for digital cancer education, insights on diversity, equity and inclusion, and research. Dr Szumacher recommended the book, Cancer Confidential: Backstage Dramas in the Radiation Clinic, by Dr. Charles Hayter.

The last lecture of the day was presented by Drs. Krzysztof Szewczyk and Urszula Staszek-Szewczyk. Their presentation focused on goals to enhance cancer education in Poland. They reported achieving three major goals: (1) unifying an oncology curriculum at Polish medical universities, (2) writing an oncology textbook for students, Onkologica, and (3) enhancing testing and evaluation. They concluded their presentation by reviewing medical students’ perspectives of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gains in cancer education.

The third and final day of the conference opened with an informative review of learning theories presented by Dr. Charles Kelly. Dr. Kelly’s plenary presentation offered examples of how these theories can be used. He also reviewed the application of learning strategies for patients and carers. The presentation generated a lively discussion of artificial intelligence (AI) and cancer education. This was a great opportunity to discuss a current topic that has significant implications for education.

Dr. Joy Notter’s presentation was given in honor of her graduate student. She shared the results of a qualitative study that addressed patient’s perspective of living with a colorectal cancer and a colostomy. Through her research efforts, she identified five groups of patients and shared how to support them to meet their survivorship needs. The five patient groups she identified were anxious preoccupation, helplessness and hopelessness, avoidance, fatalism, and fighting spirit.

Dr. Luis Moreira from Instituto Piaget, Portugal, presented the lecture, College Students’ Cancer Literacy: the Disconnection Between Knowledge and Cancer Prevention Behaviors. He presented data, including surprising results, from a survey given to more than 1000 Portuguese college students 18 to 35 years old. Dr. Moreira shared that their study demonstrates a disconnect between the college level of education and greater literacy in specific cancer topics, compromising the adherence to preventive behaviors in these young adults.

Dr. Filipe Santos Silva proceeded with the presentation, The Serious Play of Bringing Start-Ups to Pediatric Cancer Care. He presented the i3S initiative, Resolve-Health 2.0—a program to promote seed projects and startups in the health sector, boosting the translation of knowledge and innovative ideas into business ventures and value creation. Dr. Santos Silva shared the heartfelt work he is doing with pediatric oncology patients using Legos as a way to express their feelings.

Mr. Lukasz Moskal, a medical student, presented his team’s innovative and collaborative work with smoking prevention in Poland with seventh- and eighth-grade Polish students and sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade Ukrainian students. Their program met the stated aims and increased the students’ knowledge about the consequences of smoking, and the students felt empowered to decline nicotine products.

Ms. Rema Roemer-Slimak, also a medical student, presented early data from her study about students’ perception of cancer prevention. Students aged 15 to 19 years completed a survey that asked several questions, including: Do you think that you have an influence on whether you will get cancer? and Do you seek additional info about cancer on your own? We are looking forward to seeing her final data analysis at a future meeting.

Following the close of the meeting, we were led by our hosts on a walking tour of Wroclaw. This vibrant city and our gracious hosts were the perfect combination for an innovative conference and created enthusiasm for meeting again next year in Birmingham, England.