Dr Jean Assender and Dr Sudha Sundar discuss the full-time MSc in Clinical Oncology, with a focus on module content and clinical observerships.
Duration: 06:53
Speakers
S1 Dr Jean Assender, Programme Lead, MSc in Clinical Oncology
S2 Dr Sudha Sundar, Senior Lecturer/Clinical Lead, MSc in Clinical Oncology
Transcript
S1 I’m Dr Jean Assender, I’m the Programme Lead for the MSc in Clinical Oncology.
What levels of study does the programme offer?
S1 We offer the programme as a Masters course or as a postgraduate diploma and we also run it in two different modes: either as a full time programme or as a part time programme. The part time programme’s been running for a number of years and it’s particularly aimed at home students already working in the oncology field. If you want to know more about that, then we have a podcast on the website you might like to listen to. What we want to talk about now particularly is the full time programme which has a clinical observership which is particularly aimed at overseas international students who would like to come and study.
What type of students is the programme aimed at?
S1 Particularly international medics and pharmacists, working within the oncology field who want to expand their knowledge of oncology and practice within the UK and that’s why we’ve got the clinical observership, so you’ll be able to go into hospitals in the West Midlands area and see how oncology is practiced here.
What modules are offered within the programme?
S1 So within the taught component you will be studying eight modules. Five of those are core, so you’ll hear about in-depth current understanding of what causes cancer and the molecular basis of cancer from the people working within the CI UK centre here within Cancer Sciences and doing the most current research on the causes of cancer. In addition you’ll have modules on epidemiology and stats that will help you to develop your research programme and your own dissertation ideas. You’ll be learning about pathology of cancer and also about cancer clinical trials, again from within the CI UK cancer trial unit and specialist speakers that work there. And the final module that you will be studying will be on cancer therapy and cancer management to get an in-depth understanding of the different modalities of cancer therapy. In addition to that, you’ll be able to study a range of optional modules. So these will be things like haemato-oncology, paediatric oncology, caring for cancer patients, palliative care of the cancer patient, surgical oncology, radiation oncology and a couple of specialist modules that are aimed at students who are interested in obtaining the exams for the Royal College of Radiologists and that’s the biology and radiation physics modules.
S2 I’m Dr Sudha Sundar, I’m a consultant gynaecological oncologist so I’m a consultant gynae cancer surgeon and I also work as a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham. I’m the clinical lead for the full time Masters in oncology programme, offered by the School of Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
Why choose this programme?
S2 This is a unique programme. We think this is the only programme in the United Kingdom to offer students who apply both the chance to do the taught and research components of the MSc in oncology but we also add to this a very special thing. We hook the students up with individual consultant mentors and offer them a chance to observe practice, both clinical practice in the field of oncology which is a student’s interest, as well as observer the implementation of research in oncology in the UK and this clinical observership programme of six months that we offer to each student in this programme is unique because no other university offers this within the UK at the present moment.
What facilities are available?
S2 Within the MSc and with particular regards to the clinical observership, we match the student up with a consultant in their field of interest. So we offer various observerships within the whole breadth of oncology – in medical oncology, in clinical oncology, in the various specialties within surgical oncology, in orthopaedic oncology, paediatric oncology. So we’re able to take students who have an interest in any of these fields and match them up with a consultant mentor. These consultant mentors work in internationally recognised and acclaimed hospitals – the University Hospital Birmingham, the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham Children’s – as well as other hospitals of national and international repute within the West Midlands. So the facilities we offer are that the student comes to us and will be given world-class taught modules and research components, but also have a chance to observe the practice of oncology in these hospitals so they will shadow these consultants and get to see how oncology is practiced at international quality and see how research is implemented within the field of oncology at these hospitals. So we think this is a unique opportunity for students who apply to our programme.
Tell us more about clinical observerships.
S2 So observerships will be with international medical leaders in various specialties within oncology, including as I said, haemo, colorectal, upper GI, surgical oncology, gynaecological oncology, hepatobiliary oncology, orthopaedic oncology, breast oncology, medical and clinical oncology. We know the hospitals in Birmingham are recognised as international leaders in the various specialties of oncology and cancer research at the university in particular has received several accolades and is ranked amongst the top in the United Kingdom in terms of the numbers and qualities of publication from this institute for the last UK research assessment exercise. By clinical observership I mean that the students will be able to observe practice. We aren’t in a position to offer hands on training because that would only be available for students who possess GMC registration. But being able to observe practice in oncology in the UK will allow the student to take back to their individual countries an enhanced understanding of the practice of oncology in their field. They will know how world-class leaders practice within the specialty and I think that will make them far better doctors and pharmacists in the field of oncology that they choose to practice in.
End of recording