Victoria will be home to a major conference dedicated to improving care and outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer when it hosts the 3rd Victorian Cancer Survivorship Conference in Melbourne,12-13 March 2020.
The event will be co-presented by the VCCC and the Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre, a Richard Pratt legacy (ACSC), a department of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The theme of the conference is: A 2020 vision: building on learnings, partnering for success.
Meg Rynderman is a survivor of recurrent Hodgkin disease and hormone positive breast cancer. She volunteers as a consumer representative for the ACSC and is on the organising committee for the conference.
“A conference of this scale is a very important event for Victoria,” says Meg. “I have been fortunate to witness incredible progress in my 25-year cancer journey and I am passionate about putting a face to survivorship and helping to improve the journey for others.
“When I was first diagnosed there was no such thing as supportive care. Nowadays, taking the time to gauge a person’s emotional state and provide the appropriate care is pretty much standard practice. Clinicians are much better at seeing the patient as a whole person.
“Care plans, where a patient is given a summary of their diagnosis and treatment are also more common now. There is better communication between specialists and general practitioners so when you go back to your doctor for a check-up, they are already up to speed with your progress. And there are ways to help you link back in according to your needs.”
Meg also volunteers for Cancer Council Victoria’s Cancer Connect program which links people with someone who has been through a similar cancer experience; and is a patient face for new staff attending orientation at Peter Mac.
“I am very much looking forward to the conference early next year,” says Meg. “As a consumer, I am very interested in new developments in survivorship care and am looking forward to hearing from Australian and international experts in the field.”
Confirmed speakers for the conference include:
Professor Deb Mayer
Professor, School of Nursing, Director of Cancer Survivorship, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, USA
Professor Adam Glaser
Professor of Paediatric Oncology and Late Effects, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Children's Hospital UK
Professor Afaf Girgis
Director of the Psycho-oncology Research Group, UNSW Sydney
Professor Suzanne Chambers
Dean of the Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney
Registrations will open soon for the 3rd Victorian Cancer Survivorship Conference – healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers will share research, clinical and personal insights at the cutting-edge of cancer survivorship.
Image of the ACSC team with Meg Rynderman seated second from left: courtesy of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
