Education and training in early detection of breast cancer for health care professionals (EBreast)

Funding

Breast cancer detection should be carried out by a team involving a number of health professionals from various medical, nursing and allied health disciplines who have undergone specialist training in breast cancer beyond that given in their general training as has been stated by the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA 2007; 2010).

However the availability of this kind of education varies very much, even amongst highly developed European countries. For the above described reason this project aims at increasing the competences of early breast cancer detection and diagnostic procedures among health care professionals, students and teachers in the fields, following the principles of interprofessional education (IPE).

Once students understand how to work interprofessionally, they are ready to enter the workplace as a member of the collaborative practice team. Another critical issue in early detection of breast cancer is related to rapidly developing medical high-technology resulting in a constant need for updating the competences of diagnostic health professionals.

Objectives

  1. Identifying the common difficulties in breast screening and clinical mammography education and in clinical practice in Europe.
  2. Increasing the knowledge, skills and competences of early breast cancer detection and diagnostic procedures among nurses, radiographers and biomedical laboratory scientists and lecturers in the field.
  3. Increasing breast screening, imaging and quality assurance competence of radiographers.
  4. Increasing further examination (FE) and new imaging modalities competences of radiographers and biomedical laboratory scientists.

Three educational packages will be developed in this project, one module focusing on the development of common understanding of early breast cancer detection among health professionals, and two modules aimed at the promotion of the competences regarding early breast cancer detection among diagnostic health professionals like radiographers and biomedical laboratory scientists.

Contact

Eija Metsälä
Project Manager
tel. +358 50 347 8177
eija.metsala [at] metropolia.fi (eija[dot]metsala[at]metropolia[dot]fi)