The King’s Health Partners Cancer Centre (KHPCC) has launched the ‘Fundamentals in Oncology’ course, in partnership with the Tata Memorial Cancer Centre (TMCC) in Mumbai.

In a unique opportunity, faculty members of KHPCC have travelled to the centre, one of the oldest and largest of its kind in India, where they have been delivering lectures to students as part of the 10-day course.

The summer school course aims to enhance the knowledge, skills and attitudes of medical graduates in the treatment of cancer.

King’s College London first signed a partnership with the TMCC in 2012, which had set out a commitment to pursue joint research and development opportunities, and the exchange of staff and students.

Three years later and final-year medical students and newly graduated doctors are benefiting from the lectures and seminars as part of the course, which Professor Kailash Sharma, Dean of Academics at the TMCC, considers a "very innovative concept, which encourages responses from students and in-class discussions."

Aditya Malkani, King’s College London’s India Country Head, commented on the unique offering at the centre: "This is arguably the most unique summer course we have conducted in India, since the inception of the India Summer Schools in 2012. It is in a highly specialised medical area and with over 80 medical students having applied for the school; we hope to gradually develop greater interest in the coming years."

As a global, research-led university, King’s aims to pursue opportunities that international collaborations, such as this with the TMCC, presents for global academic collaboration.

Professor Arnie Purushotham, Director of KHPCC, and the lead for the relationship with the TMCC said: "It gives me great pleasure to see the joint Summer School on Fundamentals in Oncology being launched with the participation of a talented, bright and enthusiastic group of students. My faculty members and I are very grateful for the opportunity to display King's strengths in cancer research, and are honoured to work so closely with our colleagues at Tata Memorial Centre to provide the students with an enriching Summer School course."

Source: King's College