Cervical cancer in Eastern Europe: review and proceedings from the Cervical Cancer Research Conference

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women worldwide, with a disproportionately high burden of disease in less-developed regions of the world. The Cervix Cancer Research Network was founded by the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup with a mission to improve outcomes in cervical cancer by enhancing international access to clinical trials, specifically in under-represented, underdeveloped areas. The Cervix Cancer Research Network held its third international educational symposium in Bucharest in 2018 and is the subject of this report. The purpose of this symposium was to advance the international understanding of cervical cancer treatment patterns, to foster recruitment to Cervix Cancer Research Network clinical trials, and identify key Cervix Cancer Research Network clinical trial concepts to improve cervical cancer care worldwide.

Trends in interventional radiology: Survey of medical students at an educational symposium

Objective: Symposiums are great avenues to expose students to interventional radiology (IR) and gauge their interest in the field. This study compares student interest and knowledge of the specialty before and after a state- wide IR symposium. Materials and Methods: A state-wide IR symposium consisted of lecture didactics and interactive hands-on IR simulations. Pre-symposium and post-symposium survey assessments were provided to each attendee to complete. The surveys remained anonymous and were performed for quality assurance purposes. The survey included questions on knowledge of IR, interest in IR, application strategies for the IR match, and career options in IR. Results: A total of 101 medical students registered for the symposium. Thirty-nine completed the pre-symposium survey and 40 completed the post-symposium survey. About 71.1% of the respondents reported “Little Knowledge” of IR before the symposium, which decreased to 40.5% after the symposium. Furthermore, 21% of the respondents believed that they had a “Good Foundation” in IR before the symposium and 59.5% after the symposium (P < 0.0001). The percentage of students planning to pursue IR increased from 35.9% to 45.9% (P = 0.160) after the symposium. About 77.8% reported that having an IR clinic is important in their career in the post-symposium survey compared to 64.1% in the pre-symposium survey (P = 0.077). Conclusions: Symposiums are an effective method in exposing medical students to IR. Students have expressed both strong interest in the field and increased knowledge post-symposium. Prospective applicants have reported dual applying to the integrated IR and diagnostic radiology (DR) residencies due to their concern about the competitive nature of integrated IR due to small number of positions available.

The Fourth World Professional Forum “The Book. Culture. Education. Innovations” – “Crimea-2018”

The Fourth World Professional Forum “The Book. Culture. Education. Innovations” is reviewed with the main focus on the 25-th International Conference “Libraries and Information Resources in the Modern World of Science, Culture, Education and Business”, the Third General Conference of the National Library Association “Libraries of the Future” and the First Scientific and Educational Symposium “Building and Developing the Modern Digital Environment for Education and Science”. For the first time, RF President Vladimir Putin, sent his welcome address in which he emphasized that the Forum became an important event for the representatives of research and educational organizations, professionals in arts and humanities, the site to discuss acute professional problems, and to make plans for the future.Several Forum events are reviewed, among them the open press-conference, the National Libraries Day, ROSPATENT Day, Day of Library Innovations, Intellectual and Discussion Duel «To the Barriers!” Within the framework of the Forum, over 130 simultaneous events were held in diverse formats: lectures, discussions, workshops, round tables, and business games. The Forum conclusions are made; the participants say that the Forum has its unique character, traditions and bright future.