Education Ukraine Project #30200

Educational Program for Oncological Specialists

by Tabletochki Charity Foundation

Project Report | Oct 22, 2018
Educational program report (Jul - Sep 2018)

By Oksana Gozdachenko | Fundraising department specialist

In July, we continued our cooperation with the Canadian hospital SickKids: the hospital delegation visited the National children's hospital Okhmatdyt to conduct a professional assessment of the hospital and give important strategic recommendations for the further development. Before the visit, it was very important to conduct a preliminary assessment of Ohmatdyt’s work with a description of the background in order to help the Canadian team focus on key problem areas. This assessment has taken our team. We placed great emphasis in communication with SickKids on the importance of additional training of doctors and nurses in Okhmatdyt and the participation of Canadian hospital specialists in establishing in Okhmatdyt the correct organization of medical care, including children's oncology.

In August, the department of bone marrow transplantation of Okhmatdyt was in a critical situation: almost all employees of the BMT Unit, as well as all employees of the reference laboratory, quit. As a result, only one experienced doctor remained in the unit with 11 seriously ill children. Our foundation was promptly involved in resolving this crisis situation. We have negotiated and are ready to promptly send new doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians to hospitals in Vilnius, Verona and Minsk. Also, we paid for an urgent visit by a delegation of Italian hematologists-transplantologists, to assess the situation and provide advice to help the remaining employees of the department in treating children (as well as assessing the request for staff education).

We will continue to help the BMT Unit of Okhmatdyt and will organize all the necessary educational activities in order to promptly train the new staff of the department and for the children to continuously receive quality medical assistance.

Also, in September, we paid for four doctors (a neurosurgeon, an endovascular surgeon, an ophthalmologist and a chemotherapist) a trip to Lausanne (Switzerland) for a workshop on intraarterial chemotherapy for children with retinoblastomas. And now we are working on the introduction of this type of treatment in Ukraine. We want, as a result, children do not need to go abroad for treatment and lose time while their parents are looking for money to travel.

All this time we are making contact with doctors, collecting information about their needs, preparing a calendar of events for 2019: doctors and nurses will be able to prepare in advance and apply for the program on a competitive basis.

And we have a new member of our team! Meet Anastasia Semenets who joined us and coordinate work with doctors and working groups from hospitals.

Thank you for your support!

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Jul 23, 2018
Educational program report

By Anna Gutman | Fundraising department specialist

From April to June, 17 doctors (oncologists, hematologists, anesthetists, onco-ophthalmologists, radiologists, neurosurgeons) from Ukraine were able to go to internships, seminars and congresses in Naples, Bonn, Berlin, Helsinki, Barcelona, Lyon, Kiev, Chernihiv. To all of these doctors, we either paid for the training, or paid for the transfer or residence, or agreed with partners about the free transfer and participation.

In particular, in June we sent Volodymyr Plyatsek, a chief of the Center for Radiology Okhmatdyt Hospital, to study at the Summer School: Transformation of the Health Care System. Volodymyr said:

"Participation in such a training is critically important for me, as for the manager. At the Medical University you are not taught leadership and managerial skills. But when you become a manager from a doctor, you have to learn everything from scratch. Everything that is connected with medical management, all possible methods and skills is vital for my work. Previously, I independently read books, went to various free courses, but in the end it was not clear how I could apply the knowledge gained to my department. At the Summer School, everything was able to organize and become clear. These are the issues of organization of the medical process from the point of view of the patient, the question of service, standard business processes, which can absolutely be adapted in medicine - and this is not about money, it's about organizing a process that would be effective, it's about something that drives and inspires you. I like the idea always to have a great dream that push you forward every time. Now I understand also, that I can do this pushing and make changes by myself"

Also, our fund coordinated the visit of a Canadian neurosurgeon James Rutka from SickKids to the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital (this was a review of practical cases with doctors plus several lectures).

During this period we also translated for oncologists and oncologists in Ukrainian:

1) "Guideline for the Management of Fever and Neutropenia in Children With Cancer and Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation Recipients: 2017 Update". This guidance is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Vol. 35 No. 18, June 20, 2017.

2) "A comprehensive approach to the prevention of central venous catheter complications: results of 10-year prospective surveillance in pediatric hematology-oncology patients". This scientific article is published in the journal Annals of Hematology, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

3) HIT-MED Guidance for Patients with newly diagnosed Medulloblastoma, Ependymoma, CNS Embryonal Tumour and Pineoblastoma- HIT-MED Therapy Guidance Version 4.0 - May 02, 2017, Hamburg, Germany. The translation will be verified and adapted by Ukrainian doctors.

4) SIOP PNET 5 Medulloblastoma, Protocol Version 7. 2011, Nov. 21. The translation will be verified and adapted by Ukrainian doctors.

Overall, within six months, we spent about $ 8.5 thousand on the program, not counting administrative costs.

In September we are planning to send a team of doctors to Lausanne (Switzerland) for a practical seminar on intraarterial chemotherapy for children with retinoblastomas. We also arrange for doctors a couple of trainings about how to set up tunnel central venous catheters and ports, and how to care for them.

Now we are choosing a hospital for a pilot project: assess the training needs, formulate our proposals and work plan. The next step is to coordinate the plan with the management of the hospital and sign the relevant agreement.

All this time, we establish contacts with pediatric doctors, collect information about the needs, prepare a calendar of events for 2019: doctors and nurses will be able to prepare in advance and apply to the program on a competitive basis.

At the end of 2018, we will hold a seminar for doctors and nurses for palliative care for cancer patients.

Thank you for your support!

Links:

http://www.tabletochki.org

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Apr 23, 2018
Educational program education

By Anna Gutman | Fundraising department specialist

In April we finished a field study of our educational project.

During 4 month we have done:

- Interviews and meetings, have reached preliminary agreements from participation in the program with more than 25 doctors, clinics, foundations, educational institutions and government officials.

- Analysis of successful and unsuccessful cases of educational programs in Ukraine and abroad

- Analysis of relevant scientific publications in the field of medical education (which techniques are effective and why)

- Sphere analysis (how the system works, what are the opportunities and barriers in the training of physicians, which the problems in the field of children's oncology can be solved also through access to training).

According to our findings we decided:

1. Provide access to existing high-rated educational programs (focus on practical workshops, big conferences and internships) both in and out-of-country

2. Organize own practical seminars for doctors and nurses with different specializations in oncology (onco-hematology, sarcomas, brain tumors, solid tumors, retinoblastomas, palliative care, unrelated bone marrow transplantation).

3. Create and conduct customized on-site training programs (simulations) with focus on pain control, ‘childhood in hospitals’, communication skills

4. Provide access to subscription to high-rated scientific periodicals with partial translation (recommended/requested materials)

5. Advocacy (GR) on the access of physicians to the education and systematic training of nurses in oncology, including: a training center for nurses (in Okhmatdyt or National Cancer Institute), English language courses.

It is important for medical professionals to get assistance in training that is relevant to their demands. For doctors, these are, in particular, issues of intensive care, antibacterial, antifungal therapy and prevention; issues of preservation of enteral feeding in severe and critical conditions (tube feeding); issues of personalized therapy in pediatric hematology and oncology; trainings in conducting clinical studies in which many hospitals do not participate because of insufficient knowledge in this field; traineeships; training in communications and writing scientific works in international peer-reviewed journals, grant applications for training.

For nurses, these are issues of handling venous catheters, mediports, transfusiology issues, training in prevention of fungal infections, catheter-associated infections, correct and effective organization of the work of a nursing team, trainings in communication and writing grant applications for training, learning English.

Ward chiefs also need trainings in team and change management,organization of work, reporting and fundraising, as well as traineeships.

It is necessary to create own program to solve specific problems in pediatric oncology as not all existing options are suitable and available for this. The interviewed stakeholders are sure that qualitative changes within a ward are possible only subject to the willingness of the management, that will implement changes and new algorithms and make them mandatory (control of implementation), as well as subject to holding simulated training of the entire team of doctors and nurses. This is also confirmed by the existing scientific research and experience of successful educational programs.

Also, this year, we have already paid for participation in practical seminars and a profile congress or helped with transportation costs to 6 neurosurgeons. For example, at the end of January, two neurosurgeons - Mikhail Lovga from Volyn Oblast Children's Hospital and Vadim Zyabchenko from NDSL Okhmatdit visited a three-day course on Neuroendoscopy in Naples. The organizational fees for 650 Euros were paid by our fund as part of the educational program.

Neuroendoscopy is a modern technique for treating tumors of the brain, hydrocephalus, cystic formations. Michael and Vadim said after the internship they will more widely use neuroendoscopic techniques in their everyday practice. Much of the surgery will be less traumatic for children, and their duration in hospital will be shortened.

New personal acquaintances with leading neurosurgeons from Western Europe, USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, and Turkey will also help. We will be able to receive distance counseling to determine the best tactics for treating children, we will have more training in the best clinics in the world, - says Vadim Zyabchenko.

Thanks to your donations, we can pay for doctors to participate in important upgrade activities. And this means that more and more patients receive high-quality treatment in Ukraine, and not abroad. That is much cheaper and more convenient for families.

Links:

http://www.tabletochki.org

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