Vienna International Summer School on Experimental

and Clinical Oncology for Medical Students: An Austrian

Cancer Education Project
Sabine Fromm-Haidenberger & Gudrun Pohl &
Joachim Widder & Gerhard Kren & Florian Fitzal &
Rupert Bartsch & Jakob de Vries & Christoph Zielinski &
Richard Ptter
Published online: 16 January 2010
# Springer 2009
Abstract The International Summer School on Experi-
mental and Clinical Oncology for Medical Students is
organised at the Medical University of Vienna to teach a
multidisciplinary approach to oncology to medical students
in the final phase of their studies. The program includes
biology, diagnosis, clinical and psycho-oncology. Lectures
are given by medical, radiation and surgical oncologists.
Teaching includes case reports, poster presentations and
role-play. As part of the organising committee, Austrian
students organise a social program. Since 1999, six courses
have been held (147 students from 19 countries). Students
recorded high satisfaction with organisation, scientific
content and topic range. Case presentations, poster pre-
sentations and role-play were very useful. Early criticism
that the program was too intense (long lectures and little
interaction) has been answered. The summer school has a
high degree of acceptance and is a very useful tool to teach
medical students about oncology and approaching a cancer
patient.
Keywords Summer school
.
Oncology
.
VSSO
.
ISOMS
.
Multidisciplinary
R. Ptter
Department of Radiotherapy and Biology,
Medical University of Vienna,
Vienna, Austria
R. Bartsch
:
C. Zielinski
Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine I,
Medical University of Vienna,
Vienna, Austria
F. Fitzal
Department of Surgery, Medical University of Vienna,
Vienna, Austria
G. Pohl
Department of Palliative Care,
Goettingen, Germany
G. Kren
Department of Radiotherapy, Hospital of Lainz,
Vienna, Austria
J. de Vries
Department of Surgery, University Medical Centre Groningen,
Groningen, The Netherlands
J. Widder
Department of Radiation Oncology,
University Medical Centre Groningen,
Groningen, The Netherlands
J. de Vries
WHO-Collaborating Cancer Centre for Cancer
Education in Groningen,
Groningen, The Netherlands
S. Fromm-Haidenberger (*)
Institute of Radiology, LKH Gmunden,
Miller v. Aichholzstrasse 49,
4810 Gmunden, Austria
e-mail: sabine.fromm@gespag.at
R. Bartsch
Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Elisabethinen,
Linz, Austria
J Canc Educ (2010) 25:5154
DOI 10.1007/s13187-009-0011-3
Introduction
There is no consensus on how oncology should be taught at
the undergraduate level and what the most appropriate
teaching methods are. Teaching about cancer is often
fragmented during the medical curriculum and not performed
in a unified, organised fashion [13]. This fragmentation is
more evident in Europe due to a missing common syllabus
between medical schools, sometimes even within the same
country [4]. Nevertheless, traditional medical education
promotes the misunderstanding that treatment of cancer
patients is the domain of a single speciality [5, 6].
With the need for an integrated, multidisciplinary
oncology training at undergraduate level, different summer
schools on oncology have been developed in Europe. In
1996 the International Summer School Oncology for
Medical Students (ISOMS) was started in Groningen,
The Netherlands [7, 8]. Subsequently, in Vienna a summer
school was developed in collaboration with the WHO-
Collaborating Cancer Centre for Cancer Education in
Groningen (WHOCCCE) and under the auspices of the
International Union Against Cancer (UICC). Since 2004,
two further summer schools have a different course design
and student selection [9].
Outside Europe, a problem-based course was developed
in India [10]. In Brazil and other parts from Latin America,
different actions, like a multidisciplinary cancer committee,
new educational methods, a well-planned cancer program at
the different medical schools and a Student-Cancer League
were initiated [3].
The aim of the Austrian cancer education project is to
provide a multidisciplinary teaching course for medical
students in the final phase of their studies and to promote
international exchanges. We evaluated the course.
Material and Methods
Course Design
The Vienna international summer school on experimental
and clinical oncology for medical students (VSSO) was
first organised by the Departments of Radiotherapy and
Internal Medicine I (Division of Oncology) of the Medical
University of Vienna (MUW). In 2007, a surgical oncolo-
gist from the MUW joined the organising committee. All
courses are held at the General Hospital of Vienna, and the
facilities were provided by the MUW. From 19992001, the
course was held yearly, since 2001 alternately in Groningen
(www.isoms.nl) or Vienna (www.muw.ac.at/vsso).
The target group are medical students in their final phase
of their study, interested in oncology, basic research and
exchange of international contacts. There are no special
selection criteria. The students are welcome to register
online (www.muw.ac.at/vsso) and up to 30 participants are
accepted for each course. Besides the physicians of the
organising committee, Austrian students from the MUW
were recruited as student organisers, helping with the
organisation and providing a social program. As a reward,
they were invited to attend the course for free.
Course Program
The aim of this education program was to provide a
structured and comprehensible course covering basic
oncology and cancer-related problems (Fig. 1). Lectures
are given by radiation, medical, surgical (Fig. 1) and
psycho-oncologists from the MUW. A guest lecturer from
the University of Groningen was invited for every course.
To encourage interaction, teachers provided a case
presentation for discussion. Participants were divided into
five groups at the beginning of the course and had to
prepare diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for assigned
cases, according to general and specific questions attached
to each case. Each group presented their case, and the
results were discussed by everyone, guided by the teacher.
Since 2005, we included personal poster presentations
about an oncology topic from his/her country of origin. The
presentations were moderated by a member of the organising
committee, giving feedback concerning presentation, poster
design and scientific content.
Evaluation
Every participant was obliged to complete an evaluation
form at the end to cover lectures/teachers, course program,
organisation, range of topics, usefulness of case presentations,
amount of lectures and the social program. Questions were
scored from 1 (not good) to 5 (very good); students were
encouraged to give free comments also.
Posters were evaluated by a scientific committee of four
physicians, grading visual impact, clarity of information,
depth of information, information from the presenter and
relevance for education/cancer treatment/research.
Results
Participants
Since 1999, six courses have been held in Vienna. In total,
147 students from 19 countries participated. Besides
students from all over Europe, there were participants from
Indonesia, India, Brazil, Israel and Australia. There is a
close cooperation with the Cancer Council of Australia,
which sends the winner of an annual competition across
52 J Canc Educ (2010) 25:5154
Australian medical schools either to Vienna or to Groningen.
In 2007, the Cancer Council of Israel sent for the first time,
three students to the summer school in Vienna.
Evaluation and Course Development
Course organisation, course program and social program
scored highly (mean, 4.7) throughout all courses. From
regular restructuring from 20032007, the evaluations for
course organisation improved from 75% to 98% and for the
program from 60% to 82%. Global usefulness and scientific
content also received good scores (mean score, 4.3)
In the early evaluations, students claimed that the level
was too high, there was an overlap of topics, the program
schedule was too tight (8 h of presentations per day), and
too much information was provided with little interaction.
This resulted in a mediocre evaluation for the teachers of
the first three courses. We reduced the number of teachers
from 2003 and for the following two courses; we also
invited younger teachers who were asked to interact more
during lectures and to adapt the content of their talk to an
undergraduate level. Following this, the evaluations im-
proved. Additionally, we extended the course from 57 days.
Discussion
Cancer is a major health problem all over the world. Almost
all qualified doctors deal with cancer patients during their
professional career, especially those in general practice.
Nevertheless, there is clear evidence that cancer education
is underrepresented in the medical curriculum in many
countries [13]. Medical students with a special interest in
oncology are often dependent on specialised postgraduate
training, because the exposure during the undergraduate
curriculum is very limited, especially to radiation oncology
[6, 11]. Realising the need for a well-structured, multidis-
ciplinary oncology teaching course, summer schools have
developed in Europe throughout the last decade.
Two courses aiming to provide a teaching course in
oncology were developed by Medical Universities. While
ISOMS (Groningen, NL) focuses more on cancer-related
problems encountered in general health practice [7, 8], the
course in Vienna provides insight into research areas like
molecular biology, translational research, new treatment
strategies and clinical developments in oncological re-
search. More recently, two European cancer organisations
started their own undergraduate teaching courses on
Fig. 1 Summer school program
2007 as example for the course
structure
J Canc Educ (2010) 25:5154 53
oncology. ESO developed a 5-day course in 2004 which,
besides teaching basics in oncology, aims at attracting
students to develop a career in oncology [9]. In 2005, the
ECCO, former FECS, started an elective course in
oncology with partner institutions in Sweden, Poland and
Germany. Only medical students from these institutions are
allowed to attend this course, providing an insight into
oncology through theoretical and practical sessions.
The evaluation of the Vienna Summer School showed a
high acceptance from students who appreciated the multi-
disciplinary approach. They noted that the course was very
helpful for their professional future giving them a better
understanding of different fields in oncology. Also, the
exchange with students from all over the world was a
unique experience for the participants, increasing the
awareness of health problems and different health systems
in other countries. Besides the contact during the lectures,
the social program in the evenings deepened the relation-
ship between the students, resulting in the development of
friendships and networks. Several students even started a
professional carrier in oncology after finishing their medical
studies.
Our experience and the evaluations are in agreement
with those reported from the other summer schools and
cancer education projects [710], underlining the need and
benefit of a well structured, multidisciplinary teaching
course on oncology at the undergraduate level. Still, the
question has to be, how many summer schools in Europe
are needed. To discuss, a meeting of course organisers was
held during the ECCO-13 conference in Paris 2005. After
short presentations of the different summer schools, it was
quite clear that the courses differ in their content, aims and
student selection. Furthermore, ISOMS and VSSO are
organised by a Medical University whereas the other two
courses are sponsored by different types of European
organisations (ESO and ECCO). It was agreed that it might
be an advantage to have links between the different summer
schools and that strategies should be developed to promote
a multidisciplinary curriculum in Oncology for under-
graduates with a common syllabus across Europe.
After the very positive experience we had from six
summer schools, the Medical University of Vienna will
continue this education program in close cooperation with
Groningen and the UICC. The next course in Vienna will
be held in 2009 and there are plans to integrate a similar
multidisciplinary oncology course into the general medical
curriculum in Vienna.
In conclusion, the positive feedback we received
throughout the last years supports our view that it is worth
the effort to organise such a summer school, although it is
presently only accessible by a small number of students.
Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank Milly Haagedorn
for her support in developing the Vienna summer school. With her help
and expertise, it was possible to organise the first course 1999 in Vienna
and to establish the basics of this project.
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