IOUK trainee review 2022

Created - 01.07.2022

The 2022 IOUK meeting had several varied presentations and it was really useful to hear the perspectives and experiences from the impressive line-up of Interventional and Clinical Oncologists as well as other clinicians who interact with patients at different stages in their treatment journey.

Approaches to primary liver and prostate cancers as well as secondary cancers of the lung, liver and skeleton were among those discussed and I took a lot home from the talks, particularly regarding the importance of patient selection, pre-procedural preparation, peri-procedural checks and post-procedural care and follow-up. Listening to experiences from other centres, the spectrum of disease they treat and even their occasionally diverse approaches to similar diseases (that mainly seemed to be based on available resources) was eye opening. I got to interact with colleagues from other training schemes, discuss our different training structures and try pick up a few tips from each other. The abstracts presented were relevant and inspiring. Industry support was great with demonstration of equipment that I had had a chance to interact with and others that were novel to me. The meeting set-up was brilliant, the audio worked well and the screens were visible from different angles in the hall; the round-table seating plan encouraged interactions. Clear, warm summer days presented stunning views over Belfast during the breaks. The catering was delectable, and I had to remind myself that calories consumed at educational events do not count! Many thanks and congratulations to the Organizing Committee for a successful execution.

Dr Wangia Wekesa, Interventional Radiology Trainee, Belfast Health Care Trust