ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S2690

Interdisciplinary - Education in radiation therapy

ESTRO 2024

Layth Muhammad Al-Ramahi 1 , Ahmed Salem 2,3,4 , Sami Osama Alodeh 1 , Waleed Hani Al-Sarayra 1 , Ayham Hussein 5 , Mahmoud Al-Ali 1 , Fanar Alsmarat 4 1 Hashemite University, faculty of medicine, Zarqa, Jordan. 2 University of Manchester, Division of Cancer Sciences, UK, United Kingdom. 3 Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, Department of Clinical Oncology, UK, United Kingdom. 4 Hashemite University, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Zarqa, Jordan. 5 Al- Balqa' Applied University, faculty of medicine, As-salt, Jordan

Purpose/Objective:

Jordan is a small country in the Middle East with a population of 10 million. Cancer is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease in Jordan. Cancer patients require urgent care and a one month delay in treatment initiation raises death risk by around 10% [1]. This highlights the importance of an adequate oncology workforce to ensure timely and effective treatment. We aimed to assess current and future demand and supply for oncology workforce in Jordan to determine Jordan's capability to deliver effective cancer care in comparison to neighboring and developed countries.

Material/Methods:

This is a multi-faceted study. Data on the number of practicing physicians in each oncology specialty (surgical, medical/ hematology/pediatric and radiation oncologists) in 2022 and the number of newly registered doctors annually were collected from the Jordan Medical Association. The number of practicing oncology specialists in other countries was gathered from published reports [2-7]. Data on the number of medical students enrolled in medical colleges in Jordan for 2022 was collected from the Ministry of Higher Education. A cross-sectional electronic questionnaire to collect data on the number of medical students interested in oncological specialties was circulated among medical students from all years in all 5 medical colleges in Jordan. Cancer incidence and future projections (2020-2040) in Jordan were extracted from GlobeCan data [8]. Future demand and supply of oncology specialists was also estimated.

Results: