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 is the official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Education and the European Association for Cancer Education, an international, quarterly, peer reviewed journal dedicated to the publication of original contributions related to cancer education for 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.

Using What Works (UWW) is a train-the-trainer course designed for health promoters and educators to teach others how to plan a health program using evidence-based programs, also known as research-tested programs. Such programs have been conducted, evaluated, and shown to be effective in a given community.

Several forms and templates are also available for use/adaptation:

• Registration Form (MS Word, 441 KB)

• Save the date flyer-full training (MS Word, 433 KB)

• Save the date flyer-overview presentation (MS Word, 438 KB)

• Using What Works Overview/Promo flyer (MS Word, 433 KB)

• One-day Training Agenda (MS Word, 39 KB)

• Two-day Training Agenda (MS Word, 34 KB)

• Presenter Information Template (for participant packet) (MS Word, 40 KB)

• Resource list with additional sources of EBPs (MS Word, 57 KB)

• Binder covers stickers/labels (MS Word, 757 KB)

• Certificate of completion for CIS sponsored training (Power Point, 366 KB)

• Certificate of completion for multi-partner sponsored training (MS Word, 30 KB)

• Name badge template (MS Word, 33 KB)

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.

Cancer Australia, in collaboration with the states and territories, has developed the Cancer Service Networks National Program, (CanNET), seven cancer service networks (one in each State and the Northern Territory), to better link regional and metropolitan cancer services. CanNET has improved access to quality, clinically-effective cancer services throughout Australia.

CanNET involves the Australian, state and territory governments working collaboratively with consumers of cancer services and primary, secondary and tertiary health professionals to improve outcomes through better coordination of existing services.

Key projects concern improving consumer involvement, multidisciplinary care, primary care involvement, quality improvement and workforce development.

Resources have been developed to assist educators to increase capacity amongst students and staff in cancer control.

Educators are provided with an overview of assessment, which is accompanied by a suite of assessment fact sheets, competency assessment tools and portfolio templates.

A report generated when Cancer Australia contracted Cancer Council SA (CCSA) to review research and other initiatives aimed at improving cancer control in Aboriginal people. The overall objective of the review was to provide direction for reducing the disparities Aboriginal people experience across the cancer control continuum and thus improving their cancer outcomes.

A comprehensive overview ofAustralian cancer statistics on cancer in Australia, including data on many individual cancers types and rates of prevalence, mortality, survival, prevalence, hospitalisations and national cancer screening programs.

A brief summary of the report is also available.

As an example of customisation of the national standard in order to focus on a particular and complex segment of the health system – namely cancer services; two reports were produced for the Australian Cancer Network by the Sydney Health Projects Group of the University of Sydney lead by Professor Michael Frommer.

The first of these reports, “The Credentialling of Cancer Clinicians in Australia” (August 2005) describes important aspects of credentialling and defining the scope of practice and interprets the National Standard for Cancer Service Clinicians.

This second report  is a “how to” template setting out 16 practical steps to be followed when developing and implementing a cancer credentialling system, in order to assist health care organisations to ensure that care is provided only by qualified professionals whose performance is maintained at an acceptable level.

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.

Cancer Australia has undertaken a great deal of research and data collection to publish a number of reports and strategies relating to all aspects of Australian cancer care that are linked to from this site.

Australia’s Clinical Practice Guidelines Portal has been developed to help Australian clinicians and policy-makers access high quality, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines via a single entry point.

The Portal is an initiative of the National Institute of Clinical Studies, an institute of the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council as part of our mandate to build a healthier Australia.

The Portal links to clinical practice guidelines developed for use in Australian health care settings. Each guideline on this portal has been assessed according to rigorous selection criteria to help you find the type of guideline you are looking for.

It provides direct links to guidelines or to guideline developer websites. The majority of guidelines linked to are free, however in a few instances payment is required.

The site links only to Australian clinical practice guidelines. For public health and ethics guidelines approved by the NHMRC visit the NHMRC website, or for consumer health information visit the Australian Government’s HealthInsite portal.

This section of Cancer Learning provides a brief overview of key steps to be considered as well as links to national and international tools and information sources. Some sites provide case studies with information about benefits, barriers and enablers.

Report from a workshop in Canberra on 4 August 2009 to develop an independent position on the ideal generic criteria for the capital grants announced by the federal government in the 2009-10 budget of $560 million in capital grants for up to 10 regional cancer centres; inviting many of the key players in regional cancer with both a government and non-government perspective.

The report provides recommendations regarding the expenditure of the funds to ensure that outcomes are needs-based, sustainable, integrated, comprehensive and flexible.

Territory Cancer Plan

NSW State Cancer Plan

Territory Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

State Cancer Plan

Cancer Australia is collaborating with CanTeen to develop a National Service Delivery Framework for young Australians affected by cancer.

The draft Adolescent and Young Adults Cancers National Service Delivery Framework concentrates on the specific service delivery needs of adolescents and young adults affected by cancer, to improve outcomes for this group throughout their cancer journey and as they move on with their life.

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

The CDAMS Indigenous Health Curriculum Framework was published in 2004 and was developed in close consultation with medical educators, Indigenous health specialists, the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, medical colleges, student bodies, and other stakeholder organisations such as the Australian Rural Health Education Network.

Its purpose is to provide a set of guidelines for medical schools to aid the development and delivery of Indigenous health content in core medical education. It is recognised that this is an emerging field and that medical schools are at differing stages of curriculum development. This document seeks to enunciate the basic components of a functional curriculum for delivering Indigenous health effectively.

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

This Framework is designed to help guide services in the delivery of quality multidisciplinary gynaecological cancer care and was developed in close consultation with a project working group comprising representation from key professional groups, and a consumer reference group

This publication lists aspects of care where Australia might most usefully invest to reduce the impact of cancer for services to develop their future plans. It also identifies priorities areas for cancer care delivery throughout the patient journey.

The National Strategic Framework of the Australian Government for implementation 2007 - 2013 to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples enjoy a healthy life equal to that of the general population that is enriched by a strong living culture, dignity and justice.

With the globalization of health care information, it has become increasingly important to develop a set of common guidelines for the clinical training required for physicians to qualify as medical oncologists. In October 2002, representatives of ASCO and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) decided to jointly establish guidelines for a global core curriculum in medical oncology.

It is available for download in the following languages:

• Official English Version
• Chinese - Translation provided by the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology
• Deutsch
• French
• Italian
• Japanese - Translation provided by the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Latvian
• Bulgarian

A Global Core Curriculum Log Book is also available for download. The purpose of the Log Book is to keep a record of oncology trainees’ educational program, their progress and provide supervisors a tool in which to assess performance. The Log Book, modeled after the Global Core Curriculum, is a step-by-step outline of the skills and knowledge oncologists must acquire to be able to provide comprehensive and multidisciplinary cancer care.

For more information about the Global Oncology Curriculum, please send an e-mail to globalcurriculum@asco.org.

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.

This online lecture series, made available by IPOS and the European School of Oncology (ESO), features webcasts translated from English into German, Spanish, French, Hungarian and Italian. Translation of some of the lectures into Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese has been supported by national psycho-oncology societies and by unrestricted educational grants from corporations.

The core webcasts are:

• Cancer: A Family Affair by Lea Baider PhD
• Loss, Grief and Bereavement by David Kissane MD
• Palliative Care for the Psycho-Oncologist by William Breitbart MD
• Ethical Implications of Psycho-Oncology by Antonella Surbone MD, PhD, FACP
• Psychosocial Interventions: Evidence and Methods for Supporting Cancer Patients by Maggie Watson PhD and Barry Bultz PhD
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Cancer Care by Walter F. Baile MD
• Anxiety and Adjustment Disorders in Cancer Patients by Katalin Muszbek MD
• Distress Management in Cancer by Jimmie C. Holland MD
• Depression and Depressive Disorders in Cancer Patients by Luigi Grassi MD and Yosuke Uchitomi MD, PhD
• Psychosocial Assessment in Cancer Patients by Uwe Koch MD, PhD and Anja Mehnert PhD

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.

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.