A novel international initiative to promote academic oncology amongst medical students

Dear Sir

The field of oncology relies heavily on medical research to drive improvements in patient care. Doctors who engage in research or ‘academic clinicians’ play a central role in this process. However, numbers of academic clinicians in many countries have been steadily falling, leading to concern that progress might stagnate (Fitzpatrick 2013; Sheridan 2006). Unfortunately, the NHS has not managed to avoid this issue with the 2005 Walport report terming the state of academic medicine and dentistry in the UK as ‘perilous’.

In 2013, a novel initiative was developed at the University of Manchester in order to engage medical students across the globe with cancer research. A student-led oncology society in collaboration with leading academic clinicians at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust organised and ran a 3-day international medical student conference, The Christie International Student Cancer Conference.

The event attracted 101 delegates from countries including France, Spain, Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine, Pakistan, India and the UK. A carefully designed program gave participants the opportunity to present their own research (either as a poster or orally) to peers and senior academic clinicians, and to receive feedback. Opportunities were available to network with peers and doctors at all stages of the career pathway and to attend talks by leading academic clinicians from across the country.

Detailed feedback was obtained from students at the end of the conference via questionnaire. The questionnaire asked delegates to rate various aspects of the conference from 1 to 5 including overall organisation, suitability of material throughout the day and the quality of the sub-speciality, plenary and careers talks. In total, 42% of delegates completed the questionnaire rating all aspects of the conference >4.4. Furthermore, >90% of delegates stated that they would attend similar events in the future. Delegates commented that the opportunity to present their work to the oncology community was a highlight of the event; however, delegates particularly enjoyed the aspects of the event intended to educate them about a career in academic oncology. One of the main criticisms of the conference was the high ticket price, set at £50.

To our knowledge, this is the first international medical student conference focussed on engaging students with oncology and cancer research. We believe that such initiatives can play an important role in educating students about cancer research and encouraging them to consider an academic career. Other counties facing similar problems in academic medicine may benefit from such schemes.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest.