UICC online learning offer in 2022

Financing for Universal Health Coverage in the context of cancer control

“As public health practitioners, we need to have a deeper understanding of issues related to health financing, which is particularly important for me as a person working on NCDs strategies and who has always had troubles when starting to develop a budget of strategic programs. The most interesting topics that were given during the module are health care financing framework, budget classification and coding, sources of funding for NCDs (especially cancer) and their detailed explanation.”

Fully embracing and utilising the range of online tools constituted one of UICC’s responses to the pandemic in 2020. Designing and making courses accessible from anywhere in the world ensured that cancer control professionals would continue to benefit from the exchange of knowledge at a time when in-person opportunities such as the World Cancer Congress had been cancelled. 

Since 2020, UICC has delivered 10 online courses in collaboration with over 150 experts in global cancer control on the themes of advocacy and policy, leadership and management, cancer care delivery and patient engagement. In 2021 alone, over 400 active users accessed the eLearning platform and 156 certificates were awarded to participants for the completion of eLearning courses.

Online learning offer for UICC members in 2022: Self-guided courses, Master courses and Podcasts

This year, UICC will be offering a number of self-guided courses, the content of which is sourced from past UICC Master courses. Participants benefit from similar expertise and knowledge without, however, the live support of faculty. Self-guided courses are not bound to a fixed schedule and can be completed at any time; the pace of learning is set by the learner and all learning materials are available from the start on an on-demand basis. UICC’s self-guided courses are accredited by the Accreditation Council of Oncology in Europe (ACOE) providing Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits to participants on completion of the course.

Comprehensive Cancer Centres: A cornerstone for improving cancer control systems

"I loved the topic on leadership and engagement. I benefited from the presentation on Main Areas of Cancer Research: Basic Concepts. After I took the course, I decided to conduct qualitative research assessing the practice in my cancer centre and show the use of comprehensive cancer centres.”

Master courses are online courses custom-designed by internationally recognised leaders to address priority subjects in cancer control. These are “faculty-led” courses, which means they offer participants live support from the experts who provide instruction, with the opportunity to exchange and collaborate with peers. The learning modules are launched at regular intervals throughout the year with a call for applications and must be completed within a fixed three- to four-month schedule. 

In addition to the Master and self-learning courses, UICC has also launched a podcast series called CEO Voices, based on successful podcasts offered as part of the 2021 Master courses, where leaders in the field of global cancer control share their experiences and the inspiration for their work, from building their own cancer organisations to becoming global cancer leaders. 

Overview of the eLearning offer in 2022

A series of self-guided courses based on past Master courses are now available and address the following topics:

1. Access to essential medicines
2. Integrating radiotherapy into national cancer programmes
3. Multisectoral approaches for patient engagement for better cancer control
4. Financing for UHC in the context of cancer control
5. Managing sustainable and effective cancer civil society organisations
6. Comprehensive Cancer Centers: A cornerstone for improving cancer control systems
7. Delivering comprehensive interventions for tobacco control

UICC will be opening the call for applications for the next round of Master courses in Spring 2022. They aim to address the following topics:

1. Patient Advocacy 
2. Developing national cancer advocacy strategies 
3. Engaging with law and policy for cancer prevention and control
4. Leading organisations through uncertain and fast-changing times

UICC’s online learning offer started with a limited number of blended learning opportunities, combining an online component with in-person workshops, at the World Cancer Congress in 2014. This offer has evolved and expanded over the years, and now includes a dedicated eLearning platform that hosts a range of both self-paced and faculty-led online courses. 

While unable to fully replace the value of in-person training, UICC emphasises the key role that online learning can play in providing specialised knowledge in cancer control to all staff of UICC member organisations.

Financing for Universal Health Coverage in the context of cancer control

“As public health practitioners, we need to have a deeper understanding of issues related to health financing, which is particularly important for me as a person working on NCDs strategies and who has always had troubles when starting to develop a budget of strategic programs. The most interesting topics that were given during the module are health care financing framework, budget classification and coding, sources of funding for NCDs (especially cancer) and their detailed explanation.”