Same Time Next Year!

Excerpt

I have recently returned from the annual International Cancer Education Conference (ICEC) which was jointly sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE) and the Cancer Patient Education Network (CPEN). The ICEC is the premier meeting in North America dedicated to supporting cancer educators to learn best practices for cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. The theme of this year’s meeting was Solving Cancer Education Challenges through Innovative, Interdisciplinary, Community, and Global Collaboration which highlighted the global perspective of educational issues that cut across the continuum of the cancer experience for patients and their families with a focus on serving the needs of special populations and addressing disparities in cancer care. This Conference is known for presenting new and creative education models that support development and facilitation of interdisciplinary research across the cancer care continuum. The 2017 conference presented an extensive focus on disparities, special populations, genomics, and the use of effective and innovative formats and technologies. By all early reports, this Conference was a resounding success. ICEC has its roots in the annual meeting of the AACE which has been hosting these events for over 50 years. The continuing success of these conferences is that they have maintained true to their original values (dedicated to maintaining and improving all aspects of cancer education to multidisciplinary audiences) and maintaining their relevance (from its earliest focus on organization and curriculum development to this year’s meeting with a focus on genomics and diversity). …