Cancer Council Australia‘s Oncology Education Committee has developed an Ideal Oncology Curriculum for Medical Schools for students undertaking their first medical degree.

The Oncology Education Committee consulted extensively with the academic staff of all medical schools in Australia and New Zealand in developing an ideal curriculum.

The new curriculum aims to identify core skills and competencies in oncology that graduating medical students should possess. Cancer Council Australia recommends that the material in the Ideal Oncology Curriculum should appear somewhere in a medical course, not necessarily in a cancer block, to provide a core of knowledge about cancer for the medical graduate. It will assist in enabling the introduction of patient-centred skills simultaneously with a range of technical skills.

An addendum to the Ideal Oncology Curriculum, The 5 essential cancer clinical experiences for medical students, to fill the gaps in the knowledge and skills of Australian medical students by describing the 5 essential clinical experiences students must undertake prior to graduation is available: http://www.cancer.org.au//File/HealthProfessionals/The5essentialcancerclinicalexperiences.pdf

This publication details what vocational general practitioners need to learn throughout their general practice learning life.

This curriculum details the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for:

• competent, unsupervised general practice
• general practitioners to be able to meet their community‘s health care needs
• general practitioners to be able to support current national health priorities and the future goals of the Australian health care system.

This curriculum is an essential reference for general practice registrars, general practice supervisors, medical educators, regional training providers and anyone involved in implementing the training of future general practitioners. For this reason, this curriculum also details learning objectives for medical students and prevocational doctors who will eventually become general practitioners. The acquisition of these skills will also be of interest to many medical specialities.

The RACGP Curriculum for Australian General Practice 2007 sets the standards for the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for a competent, unsupervised general practitioner to care for our patients and support the current and future goals of the Australian health care system.

WHO has developed a series of six modules that provide practical advice for programme managers and policy-makers on how to advocate, plan and implement effective cancer control programmes, particularly in low and middle income countries.

The downloadable modules are:

• Planning
• Prevention
• Early Dectection
• Diagnosis and Treatment
• Palliative Care
• Policy and Advocacy.

Focus on Health Professional Education is a refereed journal for educators and students who have a commitment to improving health care through better teaching and learning.

The journal has a focus on all the health professions. The multi-disciplinary nature of the journal is reflected in the editorial board, editorial policy and balance of articles; a focus on regional issues and concerns.

The journal primarily serves Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific Region. Nonetheless it maintains an international outlook and deals with issues of global concern; a focus on teaching and learning.

There are demonstrated links between high quality education and improved outcomes for health care.

The journal includes articles on teaching and learing, curriculum design, assessment and evaluation in support of better professional practice; a focus on diverse and stimulating ideas. Controversial, challenging and substantive issues facing health professional educators and students.

The journal provides a forum where these issues can be examined and advanced. Contributions by junior researchers are particularly encouraged.

The Journal of Cancer Education, the official journal of the AACE and the EACE, is an international, quarterly, peer reviewed journal dedicated to the publication of original contributions dealing with various aspects of cancer education for physicians, dentists, nurses, students, social workers, and other allied health professionals, patients, and the general public.

Articles featured include reports of original results of educational research, as well as discussions of current problems and techniques in cancer education.

Endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers Council at its 9 October 2008 meeting, the purpose of this framework is to inform decision makers on the key issues to be considered when assessing potential screening programs in Australia, particularly: criteria to assess whether screening should be offered for diseases/conditions including cancer; and the key principles for the implementation and management of screening programs.

The framework is underpinned by the principles of access and equity, fundamental elements to all population screening programs, and is intended to provide guidance and inform judgement.

A national framework for professional development for health professionals working in cancer care based on optimal service outcomes and skills required to meet the needs of patients at every stage of the cancer journey. The purpose of this framework is to guide cancer care providers and networks in planning, developing and implementing professional development activities and programs.

The Framework is based on:

• The stages and needs of people with cancer as they move along the patient pathway.
• The optimal service outcomes stemming from those needs and described in the National Service Improvement Framework for Cancer Services and recent state and territory cancer plans
• The priority service areas identified by the needs analysis conducted in phase I of the PD project
• and Current evidence based guidelines for areas of professional practice. It is presented as a matrix which describes: the needs of people with cancer
• the optimal services to meet those needs
• and the organisational support required for health professionals to acquire the knowledge and skills to provide the optimum service.

The Framework has been validated by national and international experts. Click here http://www.cancerlearning.gov.au/docs/CancerPDFramework.pdf to view the Framework

A framework and guiding principles for curriculum design and evaluation for educators in academic and clinical settings in ways to facilitate desired learning outcomes in relation to the core competencies required of cancer nurses.

The Framework includes:

• a model for professional development for nurses in cancer control
• and pathways for the development of nursing competency in cancer control

Click here to view the Framework

Report of a conference was held in Canberra in March bringing together professionals and consumers from regional and rural Australia. This was the first conference to address the disparity in cancer services between urban and regional areas.

The planned outcomes included:

• To identify a level of service that rural cancer patients have a right to expect in the areas of surgical, medical, radiation oncology, palliative care and psychosocial support
• To identify areas in which deficiencies are perceived to occur
• To outline strategies to redress imbalances of equity and access
• To identify areas of knowledge such as epidemiology or world‘s best practice that are unavailable and commence research to address these
• To outline a defined clinical pathway to enhance cancer services.

Following the 2009-10 federal budget announcement of $560 million in capital grants for up to 10 regional cancer centres, the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA) and Cancer Council Australia convened a national workshop in Canberra on 4 August to develop an independent cancer sector position on generic criteria for the grants allocation process.

Overarching themes throughout the workshop discussion and recommendations included the need to ensure:

• successful grant applicants guarantee recurrent funding to support the capital investment - minimum staffing and appropriate professional mix will be critical
• long-term sustainability is assured
• systemic workforce issues are resolved
• genuine multidisciplinary care underpins the service
• current and future (projected) population needs will be met
• cross-border issues are resolved
• linkages with both metropolitan cancer centres and feeder hospitals are in place or developed.

The workshop featured 15 presentations to provide background and context, which can be downloaded from the website.

A report identifying improved cancer control in rural and regional Australia as a high-priority area.

"Delivering better cancer care" is an information booklet about cancer in Australia and what the government is doing about it, particularly in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia.

Published in April 2010, the booklet explains the Government plans to prevent cancer, improve access to cancer care services in regional areas of Australia, to strengthen care for cancer patients and to build a world class cancer care system in Australia.

Report into continuing professional development opportunities for health professionals working in cancer care in Australia.

Territory Cancer Plan

Territory Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan