Training African Pathologists in Cancer Staging

As we reported in our last quarterly report, the Training African Pathologists in Cancer Diagnosis (TAPCD) project was followed by an elearning course developed by course faculty members. The course has now ended. Our results and analysis support our proposal to develop a stand-alone course to make this training available to pathologists throughout sub-Saharan Africa via the Internet. As noted previously, it is not possible to provide in-person training for every pathologist in that region due to the high cost of in-person meetings, some restrictive policies regarding visas, and the fact that many health care workers cannot get the time off needed to attend in-person meetings. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the urgency to provide quality online, remote learning education opportunities has become even more evident. 

Because training in cancer staging is only one component of diagnostics in cancer care, we are considering expanding the scope of this project in the near future. There is interest in development of a more comprehensive package combining both pathologic diagnosis as well as staging, as well as increasing the scope of cancers covered by our training. We are also looking into offering this in-person training in francophone Africa as this need has been expressed by some of our members. 

We are currently looking for funding sources to support this new initiatives and appreciate all donations received from our GlobalGiving page to support the next phase of the TAPCD education platform. Any changes to the project will be readily apparent on GlobalGiving.

We thank you all for your continued support and will continue to provide updates as this project proceeds!