Join me for this FREE webinar on 1st August at 2pm to celebrate the launch of my new book ‘Oncology: An introduction for nurses and healthcare professionals’ Click the link below to register.

Cancer Demystified – What is Cancer?

Tuesday 1st August

2pm-3pm

South West Admin Oncology Training ‘An Introduction to Cancer’

A summary of feedback – Exeter 21^st June 2023

Colleagues attended from the following Trusts:

Somerset NHS FT: 4

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS FT: 21

Torbay & South Devon NHS FT: 1

University Hospitals Plymouth: 2

Self rated cancer knowledge at the start of the day

Self rated cancer knowledge at the end of the day

Motivation to attend the day:

• New to my role in Cancer Services, so feel it’s important to learn more about cancer.
• To learn about how cancer progresses/moves.
• Encouragement from Cancer Manager to attend, to increase knowledge of my role.

What three things will you take away from the training event?

• A better understanding of staging and grading
• Confidence to understand oncology discussions taking place around me at work
• Knowledge of the webinars in order to further my knowledge of specific cancer sites

Additional comments about the day

• It was an amazing day. Nothing could have been better.
• Really engaging and interesting training. Can’t fault it.
• I found the course extremely interesting and helpful. It was a day well spent.

Would you recommend this event to a colleague?

100% said they would!

“I just would like to say how utterly fantastic the training was this week at Exeter – everyone I have spoken with that attended found it truly fascinating and learnt a lot (including myself – such a worthwhile training course).  David is a fantastic trainer and I highly recommend the course.”

Administrator, Somerset NHS Trust

South West Admin Oncology Training ‘An Introduction to Cancer’

A summary of feedback – Bristol 4^th October 2022

What part of the training event did you find the most useful?

• Understanding the science behind Cancer and the specific terminology we use daily and now I actually know what it means!
• The training event was very informative and very well organised. Finally know what metastases means!

What three things will you take away from the training event?

• The grading and staging of cancer.
• Elephants don’t get cancer!
• More confidence in medical discussions with colleagues and in supporting patients with their clinic letters.

The training event would have been better if,,,

• Directions to the venue had been clearer.
• A longer day for more in depth/site specific information.

Any other comments

• Really beneficial day with brilliantly delivered training by a very clever facilitator.
• David was very interesting and informative and breaks everything down to a level that is easily understandable for non-clinical staff. I love the webinars so to do a face to face day was amazing!
• David uses simple language and scenarios to help the audience understand. Especially liked the reinforcement exercise.

South West Admin Oncology Training ‘An Introduction to Cancer’

A summary of feedback – Exeter RILD 13^th September 2022

What part of the training event did you find the most useful?

• The use of visual aids and interaction from the speaker really helped with understanding and absorbing the information.
• The teaching was well delivered and relevant, with clear explanations around certain terminology and abbreviations, giving me a better understanding to help me progress within my administrative role.

What three things will you take away from the training event?

• What Cancer is and how it develops and spreads
• The grading and staging of cancer
• The confidence to be able to support my team with decisions regarding the Cancer patients care

The training event would have been better if,,,

• There had been more opportunity for smaller group work/discussion.
• More images of cells to see the difference in them, including radiological images.
• More site-specific information.

Any other comments

• I will leave feeling more knowledgeable and prepared to do my job.
• David’s lecturing style is fantastic! As non-clinical staff, being able to understand terminology is so empowering.
• Well worth my time and travel.
• Would recommend this to anyone starting out a career in Cancer Services.
• The organisation has been most professional. I will be urging my colleagues to attend future training sessions.

It might seem a minor thing to many, but for the cancer patients it is really important that in every aspect of their care they are confident in the people and systems that support them. Underpinning this confidence is your cancer knowledge. Knowledge about cancer and it effects, knowledge of the terminology associated with cancer. Knowledge about the cancer treatments and their effects. Better cancer knowledge breeds confidence, and confidence breeds a feeling of safeness…if that is even a word, but it describes what I mean. So, what better way to increase your cancer knowledge and confidence than by learning from someone who has been in this field for nigh on 40 years! But don’t just take my word for it…

“I started a job in Oncology Clinical Research in May this year. As part of this role I am learning as much as can about oncology. I have registered and watched many David O’Halloran courses (not live).
The study sessions have provided me with so much more knowledge of Oncology than I have ever had in 24 years of nursing.”

Oncology Nurse, Musgrove Hospital.

Find the new schedule here

“I am a Clinical Psychologist and have worked in physical health for many years but it has been quite some time since I last worked in the cancer field. I have retuned to the specialty in the last 6 months and your Webinars came highly recommended by Clinical Psychology colleagues. I have attended several of your webinars so far and I cannot recommend them enough. Obviously as a non-medic I do not need to know all of the medical detail of diagnoses etc but a good level of understanding is required. Your webinars provide an excellent grounding in the essentials and are so accessible due to your presentation style and the approachable manner in which you teach. I am sure there are many people from a broad range of professional backgrounds who will benefit as I have from your webinars. I very much like the ‘bitesize’ element of the webinars too as this means I can complete them at a sensible pace, building on my knowledge as I go and as I gain more clinical experience in the work. I wanted to let you know how useful these webinars have been and thank you for providing something that would otherwise have been a huge gap for me in my knowledge and understanding of many aspects of cancer diagnosis and treatments! Keep up the good work!”

Dr Katie Hatton, Clinical Psychologist

Introduction to Cancer 6-7th July 2021 – evaluations

A Short Introduction to Cancer
Thursday 12th August
10am-11am (UK)

What level of subject knowledge did you have before the event and what level of knowledge do you feel you have now?

“This was an amazing course. I cannot express this enough. All of the examples given over the two days really helped me understand things which I previously wasn’t able to grasp. To cover such a wide range of subtopics in over two days is impressive and what’s even more impressive is that David was able to cover all of these topics and not leave me feeling baffled and lost. So thank you, I have left the course feeling more confident in my understanding. I’m sad it is already over! I look forward to follow David’s future lectures.”

I am so pleased with this. To see evidence that all attendees felt they had moved on in their learning really gives me a buzz. That is why I do it. I really feel that if people improve their cancer knowledge it will make them better at their jobs, it will make them more confident when talking to patients and their relatives, it will make them confident in reading research protocols and patient notes and it will make them confident in talking to other health care professionals, making the team work better and be more efficient. Remember YOUR cancer knowledge is MY priority.

How would you rate the course facilitator?

8% Good 92 % Excellent.

Always good to have people rate you well in your work and is testament to the thought I put into designing my courses and how to get the best out of everyone attending.

What are the 3 most important elements from the course that you will take back to your workplace?

Increased cancer knowledge, better understanding, confidence.

This is a recurring theme. I know that my courses will increase knowledge, understanding and confidence, but to have if verified and supported by these evaluations is fantastic. Doesn’t everyone want to improve their knowledge of cancer, gain a better understanding of why and how it does what it does and with that, have the confidence to talk about cancer in this knowledgeable way to patients and others alike. If I can achieve that, I have helped provide better care for cancer patients through those that attend my courses, and that makes me proud.

“I work in the Clinical Trials department, so it was really useful learning more about what genes are found as these are the types of things that I come across every day and I never really understood why certain cancers looked for certain genes”

87% felt they would change their working practice.

“I feel much more confident discussing treatment options when patients ask why they are on a particular regime but someone else might be receiving something different although they appear to have a similar diagnosis”

100% of delegates said they would recommend the course

• Definitely, it was exactly what I needed and has really helped me in my development.
• Especially to final year medical students with an interest in oncology
• I would highly recommend this course.

The fact that those attending will go back to their workplace and change their practice as a result of the things we discussed is just amazing. That is the power of a well thought out, well-constructed learning opportunity. One where people feel comfortable in asking questions and one which takes their learning style and previous level of knowledge into account. My courses do not happen by accident. They have formed through 30 years of trial and error. They are not perfect, and I continue to work on ways to improve, and I am dedicated to providing a learning environment that provide relevant material, is informative and challenging in a way that takes you into account, that is safe, friendly and sometimes fun!

“Before I started this course, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t understand all of the terminology and that a lot of the information would go over my head but David explained things in a way that made it stick and was easier to remember. It is a really heavy thing to go over for two days as well but David kept things light at times whilst still explaining things we needed to know, this made the process a lot more enjoyable and because of the way things were explained and demonstrated I am likely to remember this more than just reading through it or if someone just explained it to me. I really enjoyed the two days and feel like I have learnt a lot in such a short space of time.”

“… it was an amazing course. David’s ability to take a complex subject and cover so much in two days without leaving us confused is amazing. He was approachable and his knowledge of oncology is outstanding and has inspired me to carry out further reading.”

“I can only praise David highly, on the excellence of his training and for really helping me understand cancer. He is a brilliant teacher and I hope to attend further events in the future.”

“Good content good pace, comfortable environment to ask questions, but also discuss questions with in the table/group. Very positive no forced groups which actually helped to support a more relaxed and fluid networking opportunity for people.”

Contact me to see how my course and webinars can help improve the cancer knowledge, understanding and confidence in your staff. My courses can be tailored to your needs and requirements. You can find out about the types of work I do at my website www.ohconsultancy.co.uk or email me (doh@ohconsultancy.co.uk) .

Please do share and I look forward to receiving your comments and feedback.

‘til next time

David

David has 30 years of experience teaching about cancer. His engaging style has benefited many from the NHS, Cancer charities, Pharmaceutical companies and many others to better understand cancer as a disease