IMU Hosts Cancer Therapy Counselling Workshop for Better Communication with Patients

It is not an easy task for healthcare professionals to fathom what a cancer patient goes through while waiting for a diagnosis and receiving the treatment. Hence, effective communication and counselling is part and parcel of cancer treatment to ensure treatment efficacy, safety, and compliance. It is essential for healthcare professionals to communicate effectively the many modalities of cancer treatment ranging from surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, stem cell transplant, to prescription medication therapy. On 27 July 2019, a Cancer Therapy Counselling Workshop was successfully held in the International Medical University (IMU) Bukit Jalil campus by the Malaysia Pharmaceutical Society – Young Pharmacist Chapter (MPS-YPC) in collaboration with the Institute for Research, Development, and Innovation (IRDI) of IMU and supported by National Cancer Society Malaysia, Malaysian Academy of Pharmacy (MAP), and Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society Hospital Pharmacy Chapter. As part of the Malaysian Clinical Pharmacy Symposium (MCPS) 2.5, this workshop was aimed at raising awareness among healthcare professionals on how to conduct cancer counselling effectively. The workshop attracted pharmacists from different backgrounds and served as a conducive platform for them to exchange ideas and insights on the latest clinical landscapes.

Along with the plenary sessions, there was also a sharing session by the Ambassador of National Cancer Society Malaysia who inspired the participants to keep fighting in a difficult situation. Besides, the participants had role play sessions on some case scenarios at the closing stages of the symposium. Indeed, every participant had benefited from this event tremendously by gaining insights not only towards cancer, but also on how to become better carers of the cancer community particularly in terms of communicating with the patients.