Personalised medicine is now at the centre of most, if not all, aspects of patient care.
It is not limited to rare diseases or cancer, but spans all medical specialties.
This exciting new way of treating patients is based on specific concepts or biological pathways in a field which is continuously moving.
This means that all healthcare professionals (HCPs) in close contact with patients or their families need to possess a solid knowledge of the current aspects of personalised medicine and its latest breakthroughs, in order to better understand patients’ concerns.
The Brussels-based European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) is firmly of the belief that these professionals cannot be expected to adapt to new ways of approaching patients and coping with new technology unless they are suitably trained.
Indeed, under the Italian Presidency of the EU in 2014, the Alliance held a meeting with various medical societies in Brussels prestigious and historic Bibliotheque Solvay.
There, it was determined through consensus that a multi-stakeholder approach to HCP training was urgently required.
The concept was developed and followed up during the Luxembourg Presidency and officially noted in the Grand Duchy’s landmark Council Conclusions on personalised medicine.
The result will see, in July 2016, the first in an annual series of ground-breaking TEACH summer schools on the subject of personalised medicine.
TEACH stands for Training and Education for Advanced Clinicians and HCPs and the goal is to bring young HCPs up-to-date with developments in this exciting field.
Aimed at young healthcare professionals aged 28-40, TEACH will cover topics such as monoclonal antibodies, inhibitory drugs and putting the patient at the centre of his or her own care - all within the context of personalised medicine.
The gathering will be held from 4-7 July in Cascais, Portugal, and, over the course of the four-day school, a 20-strong faculty of experts will oversee plenaries, group discussions and interactive role play sessions involving the /- 80 HCPs enrolled on the course.
