ESTRO Annual Report 2018

Training around Leadership in RadiationOncology

ESTRO, in collaboration with CARO and RANZCR, created in 2018 a blended course on ‘Foundations in Leadership for Radiation Oncology’ to fill a gap which had become increasingly apparent over recent years. This happened on the background of a global movement around the need for health professionals across the board to step up and take more responsibility for shaping the future of health systems. It was recognized that bureaucrats and non-clinical managers may not be in the best position to direct patient-centred healthcare and improvements relating to patient processes. This ‘call to action’ lead to the recognition that in order to change this situation, training around leadership skills needed to become more integral to training curricula and programs, starting with junior health professionals. Central to this philosophy are the findings that effective leadership (like all other skills) can be taught, and that early recognition of the responsibility for leadership and change sits with all of us. The principles of team-based or ‘shared’ leadership and less hierarchical leadership models underlie modern views on leadership. The new joint ESTRO-CARO-RANZCR course targets senior trainees or junior practitioners across all the radiation oncology professions. The course aims to start equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to effectively lead improvement projects in patient care within their workplace. It is hoped that the course will stimulate its attendees to continue to develop their leadership journey after the course to become great, inspirational leaders who help shape the future of Radiation Oncology to reach its full strength and potential in patient care. To that end, after the first two successful editions held at ESTRO 37 (April 2018) and CARO 32 (September 2018), an Alumni Club will be started to bring together all participants to the course on an annual basis and provide themwith lifelong learning and networking opportunities. There will be at least 2 editions of the course in 2019 and a course for more advanced leaders is already under consideration.

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ESTRO SCHOOL