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16 Inside News
I had the honour and privilege of being
awarded the Windeyer Fellowship in
2014. The fellowship is awarded to a
post Phase 2 trainee to undertake a
clinical/research fellowship at Mount
Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood
in the United Kingdom under the
supervision of Prof Peter Hoskin and Dr
Andreas Makris.
Mount Vernon offers treatment to a
large catchment area of approximately
two million people. The fellowship has
the potential to advance your interest
in many subspecialties including
brachytherapy, gynaecology, breast,
prostate, CNS and lymphoma. There is
also the opportunity to gain experience
in CyberKnife.
My clinic days were mainly Mondays
and Fridays. Clinics can be very busy,
however, they were well staffed with
a combination of research fellows,
international fellows and a registrar.
My initial concerns about prescription
of chemotherapy soon dissipated with
constant supervision from supervisors
and support from colleagues. Clinics
operate in a central hub setting
where complex cases are discussed
and there is plenty of opportunity to
learn, not only from the patients you
review, but also from a wide variety of
patients in the clinic. I gained a good
understanding of systemic treatments,
complications and the management of
these complications.
My objective was to further my
experience in brachytherapy. This was
achieved by attending theatre sessions
twice a week, and being involved in
planning and approving plans for the
patients undergoing prostate, cervical
and vaginal brachytherapy. I had a lot of
hands-on time in theatre with insertion
of prostate interstitial needles using
ultrasound guidance. I also had plenty
of opportunities to assist with insertion
of intra-uterine catheters for cervical
brachytherapy (including insertion of
interstitial needles) and insertion and
planning of vaginal brachytherapy.
Subsequent contouring and planning
was done using MRI guidance.
I gained a lot of experience with MRI
contouring both in prostate and cervical
brachytherapy.
My other clinical involvement included
the administration of radium 125
for metastatic prostate patients,
attendance at gynae and CyberKnife
multidisciplinary team meetings, and
attendance at brachytherapy chart
rounds.
Visiting the radiology department
(Paul Strickland Scanner Centre) was
also a good learning experience with
the radiologists always keen to teach.
Whole body diffusion MRI is utilised
in many breast cancer patients in
assessment of treatment response to
systemic treatments. Patient MRIs were
often reviewed with the radiologist
thus improving my skills of MRI
interpretation.
Initial assessments of me as a fellow
were carried out by both supervisors
with regards to competency of patient
management with case discussions.
With progression through the year,
contouring and plan approvals were
carried out under supervision.
The icing on the cake, of course was the
opportunity to complete a fellowship in
a European city with ample opportunity
to attend ESTRO courses and travel
around Europe. My girls did enjoy
immensely their trip to Disneyland.
Finally, I would like to thank the College
for giving me the opportunity to gain
this vast and beneficial experience. I
cannot thank Prof Hoskin and Dr Makris
enough, not only for their guidance and
supervision, but for making this year one
of the best years of my training.
The staff at Mount Vernon were also
very helpful and friendly and made this
year a fantastic experience.
I would strongly encourage all trainees
to consider applying for this fellowship
as it has been an invaluable experience
for me.
Dr Manoja Palliyaguru
Windeyer Fellowship 2014
Dr Palliyaguru describes her experience at the
Mount Vernon Cancer Centre
Windeyer Fellowship
If you would like more details on
the Windeyer Fellowship, visit the
College website at www.ranzcr.
research-awards-a-grant or contact