Name: Ben Royal-Preyra
Residency program: McGill University Radiation Oncology
Elective location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Elective type (Clinical/Research): Clinical
Year of elective: 2020
Level of residency training at time of elective: PGY4
Brief description: A one month clinical rotation at Institute of Cancer of the State of Sao Paulo (ICESP). This elective will provide the participant exposure to the practice of clinical oncology in a lower resource setting where cancer is often diagnosed, and treated, at a more advanced stage due to limited access to cancer screening programs and primary health care. Specifically, ICESP treats a high volume of locally advanced gynecologic malignancies with brachytherapy.
Name: Michelle Bale
Residency program: University of British Columbia/BC Cancer Vancouver
Elective location: Gaborone, Botswana
Elective type (Clinical/Research): Clinical and Research
Year of elective: 2019
Level of residency training at time of elective: PGY4
Brief description: Gaborone is a middle-income sub-Saharan African country with a population of about 2.3M. There is one linear accelerator and one HDR brachytherapy suite that serves the entire country housed in the private hospital. There is government funding for patients in the public healthcare system to be treated at the private hospital if they need radiation therapy. Michelle spent 11 weeks in Gaborone involved in new patient assessments and treatment recommendations at both the public and private hospital, and in radiation treatment planning and HDR brachytherapy delivery at the private hospital. She also worked on research in locally advanced cervical cancer using clinical cancer databases available in Gaborone.
Name: Jessica Chan
Residency program: The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa
Elective location: Iqaluit, Nunavut
Elective type (Clinical/Research): Research
Year of elective: 2017
Level of residency training at time of elective: PGY3
Brief description: Nunavut is an Arctic territory in northern Canada, where 85% of the population are Inuit. Residents of the eastern Qikiqtaaluk region are required to fly more than 2,000km to access radiotherapy in Ottawa. Jessica spent two 2-week periods in Iqaluit as part of a research project investigating access to palliative radiotherapy among Inuit patients from the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut who are treated at The Ottawa Hospital.
Name: Gaurav Bhattacharya
Residency program: The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa
Elective location: Lusaka, Zambia
Elective type (Clinical/Research): Clinical
Year of elective: 2016
Level of residency training at time of elective: PGY3
Brief description: Zambia is an nation of 17 million people in southern Africa, with its capital, Lusaka hosting about 10% of that number. Residents of three countries, including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi receive care at the only oncology specialty facility in the region, namely the Cancer Diseases Hospital. Gaurav spent four weeks in Lusaka and participated in the care of patients as a visiting Radiation Oncology resident. Opportunities including interactions with local staff, house officers, physics personnel, 2-D external beam planning, access to both Cobalt-60 and LINAC infrastructure, brachytherapy and importantly, the breadth of pathology are invaluable in understanding the complexities of cancer care in the developing world. Research opportunities are available as well. Finally, since specialists are clinical oncologists, residents also have the privilege of participation in systemic therapy administration.
Name: Horia Vulpe
Residency program: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre/University of Toronto
Elective location: Accra, Ghana
Elective type (Clinical/Research): Clinical and Research
Year of elective: 2014
Level of residency training at time of elective: PGY 3
Brief description: Clinical and research elective at the National Center for Radiotherapy, part of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. Dr. Vulpe spent 4 weeks seeing patients and developing a research collaboration focused on cervical cancer outcomes. He also helped prepare a distance education program between the Princess Margaret Cancer Center and the oncology trainees in Accra.
CARO Global Oncology Committee 