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