Aarhus University Summer School in Clinical Radiation Therapy - PDF Version

1 -16 July 2021, Aarhus, Denmark

Radiotherapy (RT) is a central treatment modality of cancer. Half of all cancer patients need RT during the course of their disease. However, RT takes up only a small part of the teaching of medical students across Europe. The Aarhus University Summer School targets medical students and provides an introduction to radiobiology/physics, focusing on three patient groups where RT is essential: head and neck, breast and rectal/anal cancer. This gives the students the opportunity to dive into selected topics within RT and draw general principles from it.

The purpose of the clinical RT course is to give medical students a broad introduction to RT as a central part of curative and palliative cancer treatment. Students will gain knowledge of principles of the biology, benefits and harmful side effects of RT, for a selected group of cancers. At the end of the course the students will be able to present considerations for the advantages and risks of RT; discuss the role of RT in multimodal therapy; provide principles of RT for cure and palliation; discuss clinical RT plans; argue for proposed treatment strategies for selected patients; and propose a hypothesis for a clinical RT study.

The course is planned for graduate students in medicine, but with the possibility for bachelor students to apply if they can provide proof of academic prerequisites in clinical oncology.

The course has a preparatory  period of four working days, prior to the start of the course

The two-weeks stay in Aarhus will include lectures, group teaching, practical exercises in treatment planning, and tutorials. Students will have the opportunity to visit the Department of Oncology at Aarhus University Hospital (AUH) and the Danish Center for Particle Therapy (DCPT). The summer School accounts in total for 150 hours corresponding to five (5) European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) points.

At the end of the course, a certificate is awarded based on active participation during lectures, and presentation of both an individual case as well as group work on the last day.

Accommodation is available at the University. Additionally, there will be fruitful opportunities for international networking and exploring the city of Aarhus, outside course hours.

Learn more at:

https://international.au.dk/education/admissions/summeruniversity/course/clinicalradiationtherapy/

Course coordinators

Birgitte Offersen, bvo@oncology.au.dk;
Jesper Grau Eriksen, jesper@oncology.au.dk,
Karen-Lise Spindler, k.g.spindler@oncology.au.dk

View of Aarhus university towards the harbour and city center (Foto: Lars Kruse)