While developments in radiotherapy have created safer, more targeted treatment options for cancer patients worldwide, many hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa lack the training, capacity, and infrastructure to implement them. Without access to the most cutting-edge treatment techniques, Africa’s cancer patients will not achieve the high survival rates seen in other regions of the world. In October 2020, BVGH and Rayos Contra Cancer (RCC) (USA) launched the first of a two-part digital training series centered on preparing sites to transition from three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy to intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). IMRT is an advanced form of 3D conformal radiotherapy that enables oncologists to deliver higher and more precise doses of radiation to cancerous tissue while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy organs. Approximately 230 radiation oncologists (ROs) and medical physicists (MPs) from eight African countries and 14 institutions attended the 21-week online IMRT course. The training program started with an introduction to IMRT and the radiotherapy hardware and software needed to perform the technique, and then diverged into two parallel lecture tracks featuring specialized topics relevant to ROs (who are responsible for planning a patient’s treatment) and MPs (who are responsible for ensuring accuracy of patient dose calculations and maintaining treatment quality), respectively. Following the program, participants indicated that the lectures had boosted their confidence in IMRT. Yet before they could implement changes, their radiotherapy technician (RTT) colleagues required their own advanced training.
BVGH and RCC responded by launching a 17-week companion course for RTTs – who are responsible for operating the sophisticated equipment required to deliver radiotherapy treatments. Addressing concerns about a potential language barrier, the course was taught entirely in French by experts from Belgium, France, and Morocco. Sixty-seven RTTs from six French-speaking African countries – Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Mauritania, and Senegal – enrolled in the course. Weekly online lectures provided participants with diversified knowledge in IMRT. Lessons in treatment planning, image matching, simulation principles, and motion management equipped participants with technical skills, while lectures exploring the history of radiotherapy, comparisons in technology, and potential changes in workflow served as important contextualizing and integrating tools as the RTTs planned to adopt IMRT into their repertoire. The RTT-specific trainings proved rewarding—participants reported notable improvements in their IMRT knowledge and confidence.
For those hospitals that had already begun performing IMRT, the in-depth lecture series refined and strengthened their staff’s knowledge. At the hospitals yet to launch IMRT, the customized training programs positioned staff to confidently take their first steps towards offering cutting-edge therapies to their patients. As an attendee from Senegal noted, “At my institution, IMRT is planned very soon. I cannot wait to put into practice all that you have taught us.”