Final Activity Report Summary - ESH-EDU (European education in haematology)
The ESH-EDU project was an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to education and lifelong learning in haematology, a complex bio-medical field at the interface of many other basic and clinical disciplines. It was conceived to respond to learning needs and to contribute to harmonisation of knowledge and skills within the European Union member and in-coming states. It built on past European Commission projects developed by ESH and its partners, notably EBMT, EUROCORD and EHA and it has given rise to new collaborative European Commission applications.
The project included 14 major themes, 37 conferences, and the development of novel self-learning tools as well as the further development of interactive on-line training tools. Thanks to these freely available training tools, the results of ESH-EDU continue to be broadly disseminated worldwide.
The conferences were submitted for prior peer review to the European Council for Accreditation in Haematology (ECAH) to validate their scientific quality and objectivity and to ensure absence of commercial bias; participants were eligible to claim continuing medical education (CME) credit points for the time they devoted to improving their professional knowledge and skills. Evaluation questionnaires were also provided to all participants and their content served to guide the development of ESH-EDU so that the project remained in keeping with the needs of haematologists and their patients.
The first thematic section of ESH-EDU addressed stem cell transplantation sciences and therapies, a field in which European research is at the international forefront. This section included basic and clinical research conferences and training courses. It detailed current transplant strategies as well as future perspectives, including the rapid development of the new field of regenerative medicine. Thanks to this project many new transplant scientists and centres throughout Europe and its associated states acquired knowledge and skills necessary for the appropriate treatment of their patients. It also supported the rapid development of cord blood transplantation, bringing together the different international scientists and scientific organisations working in the field. This has resulted in new research projects and publications, including the ESH-EBMT Handbook on Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
The challenge of medicine remains the rapid translation of progress in basic research into the clinical and translational setting. ESH-EDU also included conferences on translational science, from molecular marking to therapy. These sections addressed the development of major technological and biological tools and their application to further understanding of the physiopathology and improve the treatment of blood disorders. Ethical and regulatory issues, including the EU tissue directive and the directive on clinical trials were discussed. Conferences in this section resulted in current discussions between American and European collaborative groups regarding international clinical trials. It also contributed to increase communication and transfer of knowledge between specialists working in the field of chronic myeloid leukaemia - which has recently undergone a therapeutic revolution - and those working with the other myeloproliferative disorders. The conferences encouraged mobility of younger scientists, some of which took up new post-doctoral positions in Europe as a consequence of their participation. This series also brought together scientists working in the academic and industrial settings.
The third section related to diagnostics and therapeutic decision-making. This section included training in diagnostics and the sadly neglected subject of communication skills in the clinical setting. It notably provided for the further development and use of an interactive ICT tool on the diagnostic pathway of haematological disorders. Thanks to this tool, ESH-EDU training remains freely available on-line at www.esh.org and www.ehaweb.org
ESH-EDU has been highly valuable and successful. Over 900 younger scientists have benefited from Marie Curie Actions scholarships. The project contributed to consolidate and extend the European Haematology multidisciplinary network and to raise visibility of European research worldwide. It has produced novel training tools that are used worldwide. The activity of the ESH website has more than doubled during the period of the project; in 2007 the site received more than 1 million page visits and more than 400 000 documents were downloaded. ESH is considered to be a model for bio-medical education in other disciplines and on other continents.
The whole haematology community regrets that under the 7th framework, the Marie Curie Actions programme no longer provides for series of conferences.
The project included 14 major themes, 37 conferences, and the development of novel self-learning tools as well as the further development of interactive on-line training tools. Thanks to these freely available training tools, the results of ESH-EDU continue to be broadly disseminated worldwide.
The conferences were submitted for prior peer review to the European Council for Accreditation in Haematology (ECAH) to validate their scientific quality and objectivity and to ensure absence of commercial bias; participants were eligible to claim continuing medical education (CME) credit points for the time they devoted to improving their professional knowledge and skills. Evaluation questionnaires were also provided to all participants and their content served to guide the development of ESH-EDU so that the project remained in keeping with the needs of haematologists and their patients.
The first thematic section of ESH-EDU addressed stem cell transplantation sciences and therapies, a field in which European research is at the international forefront. This section included basic and clinical research conferences and training courses. It detailed current transplant strategies as well as future perspectives, including the rapid development of the new field of regenerative medicine. Thanks to this project many new transplant scientists and centres throughout Europe and its associated states acquired knowledge and skills necessary for the appropriate treatment of their patients. It also supported the rapid development of cord blood transplantation, bringing together the different international scientists and scientific organisations working in the field. This has resulted in new research projects and publications, including the ESH-EBMT Handbook on Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
The challenge of medicine remains the rapid translation of progress in basic research into the clinical and translational setting. ESH-EDU also included conferences on translational science, from molecular marking to therapy. These sections addressed the development of major technological and biological tools and their application to further understanding of the physiopathology and improve the treatment of blood disorders. Ethical and regulatory issues, including the EU tissue directive and the directive on clinical trials were discussed. Conferences in this section resulted in current discussions between American and European collaborative groups regarding international clinical trials. It also contributed to increase communication and transfer of knowledge between specialists working in the field of chronic myeloid leukaemia - which has recently undergone a therapeutic revolution - and those working with the other myeloproliferative disorders. The conferences encouraged mobility of younger scientists, some of which took up new post-doctoral positions in Europe as a consequence of their participation. This series also brought together scientists working in the academic and industrial settings.
The third section related to diagnostics and therapeutic decision-making. This section included training in diagnostics and the sadly neglected subject of communication skills in the clinical setting. It notably provided for the further development and use of an interactive ICT tool on the diagnostic pathway of haematological disorders. Thanks to this tool, ESH-EDU training remains freely available on-line at www.esh.org and www.ehaweb.org
ESH-EDU has been highly valuable and successful. Over 900 younger scientists have benefited from Marie Curie Actions scholarships. The project contributed to consolidate and extend the European Haematology multidisciplinary network and to raise visibility of European research worldwide. It has produced novel training tools that are used worldwide. The activity of the ESH website has more than doubled during the period of the project; in 2007 the site received more than 1 million page visits and more than 400 000 documents were downloaded. ESH is considered to be a model for bio-medical education in other disciplines and on other continents.
The whole haematology community regrets that under the 7th framework, the Marie Curie Actions programme no longer provides for series of conferences.