Miriam O’Connor

"Attending the course also provided me with an opportunity to forge links and to start to create a network with cancer prevention fellows in the All-Ireland NCI Cancer Consortium."

Miriam O’Connor
Specialist Registrar in Medical Oncology
St. James’s Hospital, Dublin

I am in the penultimate year of my Specialist Oncology Training in Ireland. I have over ten years clinical experience in the field. My particular areas of interest are genitourinary malignancies and the rapidly evolving area of cancer survivorship. I was delighted be chosen to participate in the 2007 NCI Summer Curriculum in Cancer Prevention as a representative of the Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute Cancer Consortium.

I participated in the week long Molecular Prevention Course. The course was well organized and provided excellent reviews on a variety of topics including: cancer epidemiology, various preventative and therapeutic strategies being employed for specific cancers at present. The lectures were introduced in a manner that was easy to grasp considering the wide backgrounds of the participants. The speakers were most approachable and generous with their time in answering any (and the many) questions that came their way following their informative lectures.

The course met and surpassed my expectations. I would recommend attending this course to anyone embarking on a career in Medical Oncology, and not just those intending on pursuing cancer prevention. Attending the course also provided me with an opportunity to forge links and to start to create a network with cancer prevention fellows in the All-Ireland NCI Cancer Consortium. I was fortunate to meet with a number of Irish medical graduates who are currently working in the NCI.