Scientific conference for medical professionals. Improving the quality of oncological care

The West Pomeranian Oncology Center in Szczecin organized an interdisciplinary scientific conference under the slogan "SOS - Synergy in Oncology" for the third time. The addressees were specialists: representatives of all medical professions who care about improving treatment results and raising the quality of care. Nearly 300 people signed up to participate in the event, which took place on Saturday (June 14) at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Szczecin.

– The conference is a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge, experience and establish cooperation between specialists from various fields of medicine in order to jointly improve the quality of care for oncological patients – emphasizes Adrian Sikorski, director of ZCO.

As he adds, this year the focus was particularly on showing good practices and recognizing and minimizing pre-operative risks, which are of key importance in the process of treating oncological patients.

Among other things, issues related to the organization of oncological care were discussed, including legal and financial aspects for people with malignant tumors.

The session devoted to the modern approach to personalizing oncological therapy discussed the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in radiotherapy and pathomorphology.

– There is always a problem of decision-making – notes Dr. Bartłomiej Masojć, a specialist in oncological radiotherapy, a radiotherapist from the Department of Clinical Radiotherapy of the Medical University of Warsaw, who discussed modern models supporting radiotherapists in the treatment of malignant tumors. – At this stage, where we use artificial intelligence, it does not replace the final decision, but rather plays a supporting role for the doctor in treatment planning – it reduces variability and shortens the time.

Since June last year, adaptive radiotherapy has been used at ZCO, which uses AI for automatic contouring (creating outlines of organs).

– On January 2nd this year, we launched a system that ensures the use of AI in every patient – ​​adds the specialist. – However, this only has a supporting role in treatment planning, the final decision on the dose and the area to be irradiated is always made by the doctor.

In his opinion, there is no risk that in the future treatment will be taken over by algorithms and artificial intelligence will replace doctors.

– Models are developed based on standard data, and there is a lot of variability between patients, there are extreme cases – explains Dr. Masojć. – A doctor with some experience, often also intuition, makes decisions alone or in a team of doctors, and here AI often gets lost. The doctor must not only make the final decision, but also accept responsibility for this procedure.

In addition, the conference presented how fertility can be preserved in oncological patients, as well as the criteria for selecting probiotics in such patients. Specialists in their fields discussed - with examples - nutrition before treatment and non-surgical hair replacement systems.

The role of a nurse in a team – expected and actual changes – is a topic presented during the last session of the conference. The culmination was a lecture by a Tri-City psychologist and psycho-oncologist Magdalena Mikulska devoted to conversations about death in the context of the incurability of oncological disease and the self-care of medical personnel for their mental condition in the face of the patient's death.

– 294 people registered to participate in the conference – says Agnieszka Muchla-Łagosz, ZCO Communication Specialist. – We had experts from all over Poland, from various centers, mainly doctors. The conference not only allowed for the exchange of previous experiences, but also became a place to develop further practices in the care of oncological patients.

The event was co-organized by Evereth. Lectures and discussions were accompanied by presentations of medical products (e.g. dietary, dermatological, wigs) supporting patients.

The patronage over the conference was held by: the West Pomeranian Voivode, the Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Rector of the Pomeranian Medical University, the Polish Oncological Society and the District Medical Chamber in Szczecin. ©℗

Elizabeth KUBOWSKA