Dear COS Member,
Please allow me to take the opportunity
to welcome you to this new and exciting educational initiative.
The Canadian Oncology Societies, with
unrestricted funding from Roche Canada, has undertaken to develop
and promote a Best Practices in Colorectal Carcinoma (BPCRC) program.
What we propose here is a new set of
initiatives that, learning from both the successes and failures
of previous attempts, will endeavor to fill a void in the continuing
medical education arena of colorectal cancer in Canada.
The BPCRC program will be multifaceted
with many exciting initiatives. There will be essentially two
parts: a case-based education series as well as a web-based program
located on the COS webportal that will be continuously renewed
and kept current.
The cases themselves will serve as
educational tools that will be easily updated as the data changes.
Each case will focus on an element of the treatment of colorectal
carcinoma. Aspects of early stage colon and rectal carcinoma,
resectable and unresectable metastatic disease and palliative
care will be explored. As new information is available, the case
presentations will evolve. Every member of COS will hopefully
be able to gain knowledge from the learning points of the cases.
Initially the cases will be produced
and distributed on CDs like this. However, as the cases are updated,
you will be able to download new versions directly from the website.
In a series of roundtable discussion
with high-profile members of the medical oncology community, it
was felt that the COS website must evolve into the Canadian form
of the ASCO website. The Best Practices website can be accessed
at www.cos.ca from the left-hand menu section,. It will serve
as a “dashboard” from which members of the oncology
community can search, learn, communicate and keep track of their
educational activities. I would encourage you to visit this website
now and often!
Once again, thank you for your support
in this project. I would like to hear from anyone who might have
suggestions, criticisms or comments on the website and the cases.
Please feel free to contact me through email at dowden@shaw.ca.
Sincerely,
Scot Dowden, MD FRCP(C)
Medical Oncologist
BPCRC Project Manager
Tom Baker Cancer Centre
Alberta Cancer Board
