Reminiscing a great career enhancing opportunity

It was a wonderful oncology fellowship experience at the hospital from July to September 2018. I take it as a lifetime achievement possible with the support of BNMT team in Kathmandu and Great Britain especially, Co-Chair Dr. Gillian. The Fellowship was coordinated by Prof. Ros Eeles and team at The RMH/ICR London/Sutton. This was truly a dream come true professional exposure and practice changing experience for me in the field of clinical oncology and research. While in Nepal, with limited resources and infrastructure, we practice primitive forms of clinical oncology offering age old treatment options for the cancer patients. This exposure was an eye opener; I realized that much advancement has occurred in the field of cancer management with availability of many advanced forms of treatment modalities and options in recent years. At ICR, the world class cancer research lured and compelled me to think about possibilities of establishing collaboration for cancer research at our centers in Nepal with ICR.

I had rotations to almost all departments of The RMH at London and Sutton. These rotations gave me the opportunity to interact with world class professors/oncologists and learn from their expertise and experience. With the highly advanced infrastructure, competent doctors, nurses and other team members, I also observed a high class of patient care and management system. I was very impressed with the data management system, multi-disciplinary teams and communication skills at The RMH/ICR, which were something to replicate at my institute in Nepal.

I am highly indebted to the team members at The RMH including professors, doctors, fellows, nurses, support staff and all the patients/visitors who taught us important aspects of clinical oncology and human behavior. I especially thank Prof. Harrington (Head/Neck), Prof. Ros Eeles (Prostate/ICR), Prof. Martin (Urogenital/Immunotherapy), Prof. Popput (Lung), Prof. John (Sarcoma), Prof. Tait (gastrointestinal), Prof. O’Brien (lung) and the entire hospital team.

Dr.Sanjay Kumar Thakur, MBBS,MD
Oncology Fellow, NAMS, Bir Hospital, Nepal
sanjay617@hotmail.com