June 2021, Vol. 13, No. 2  AJHPE         129

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In 2014, the World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution A67.19 called on 
countries to strengthen and ensure equitable access to palliative care (PC).
[1] This resolution also stated that PC education should form an ‘integral 
component’ of ongoing education, and that disciplines working routinely 
with patients  with life-threatening illnesses should receive intermediate-
level PC training.[1] The resolution was supported by African countries who 
signed the Kampala Declaration, and by the South African (SA) Department 
of Health (the SA National Policy Framework and Strategy on Palliative 
Care).[2,3] However, to date, no dedicated funding has been set aside to 
strengthen palliative care in SA. 

The need for integration of PC has never been more strongly felt than 
in the current African cancer care situation. The burden of cancer cases is 
rapidly increasing in low- and middle-income countries. Although situations 

differ from country to country, many patients generally present late, and 
struggle to access oncology care timeously.[4] In Africa, long distances 
to oncology centres and long waiting lists to receive oncology services 
compound the problem of access to PC. The barriers to the integration of 
PC into the health system and oncology care are well described, and some 
of these are the lack of available PC training and the misconception that PC 
is only needed for end-of-life care.[5]

Academic cancer centres in SA provide training for radiation and/or 
clinical oncologists. These specialist trainees not only care for patients who 
require curative treatments, but frequently also serve the many patients 
whose care is of palliative intent. In response to the need for and the 
importance of PC in oncology care, especially in Africa, the University of 
Cape Town (UCT) developed a PC curriculum at the intermediate level. 

Background. Following a World Health Assembly call in 2014 to strengthen palliative care, the South African (SA) Department of Health approved this 
strategy as part of the SA National Policy Framework and Strategy on Palliative Care. In 2016, the University of Cape Town, together with the College 
of Radiation Oncology of SA, identified the need to integrate palliative care (PC) into the oncology curriculum. In collaboration with the Cancer 
Association of SA, a research project was developed to introduce a 12-module curriculum at five teaching hospitals. The aim of this research was to 
evaluate the impact of a 1-year PC course within the training programme for specialist oncologists in SA. 
Objective. To determine the reaction of oncology registrars and their supervisors to the course to determine changes in knowledge and skills, and to 
determine the application in oncology practice.
Methods. This study was a mixed-method prospective evaluation of an educational intervention. The educational programme used a blended learning 
method to train and support registrars (n=32) and facilitators (n=5) across five universities from August 2017 to September 2018. Evaluation feedback 
was electronically collected to determine the registrars’ reactions to the course materials. Pre and post multiple-choice questions (MCQs) were used to 
review their knowledge. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to explore reactions, change in knowledge and skills and how registrars integrated 
PC into their daily work.
Results. There was an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the PC course by the oncology registrars and their supervisors. The training was found 
to be feasible, and the topics addressed appropriate. Concerns previously raised by the College of Radiation Oncology of SA regarding the feasibility 
and appropriateness of the course and material were found to be unsubstantiated. The poor MCQ results can be ascribed to poor sequencing of the 
execution of the question. However, the MCQs in modules 7 and 8 (symptom management) demonstrated the most significant change in knowledge and 
skills (symptom management). The FGDs demonstrated a perceived change in knowledge and skills, especially for communication skills and pain and 
symptom management. The FGDs also indicated that the registrars’ approach to PC changed in that they were able to integrate the principles of PC into 
practice, and now saw PC as an essential component of oncology. Lastly, registrars and their supervisors felt that the course addressed topics that formed 
part of their daily clinical work.
Conclusion. This research supports the view that PC training is an essential component of oncology training in the SA setting. PC forms part of the 
daily practice of oncologists, and a structured curriculum prepares clinicians to be able to integrate evidence-based PC into the practice of oncology if 
they receive appropriate training. Supervisors of the oncology training programme and registrars are confident that the training of 12 modules across 
1 year is feasible and appropriate.

Afr J Health Professions Educ 2021;13(2):129-134. https://doi.org/10.7196/AJHPE.2021.v13i2.1268

Evaluating palliative care training in the oncology registrar 
programme in South Africa
R Krause,1 MB ChB, M Fam Med, MPhil (Pall Med); J Parkes,2 MB ChB, DA (SA), FC Rad Onc (SA); D Anderson,2 MB ChB, FC Rad Onc (SA); 
N Hartman,3 PhD; L Gwyther,1 MB ChB, BSc (Pall Med), PhD

1 Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa
2 Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa
3 Education Development Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Corresponding author: R Krause (rene.krause@uct.ac.za)

This open-access article is distributed under 
Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0.

https://doi.org/10.7196/AJHPE.2021.v13i2.1268
mailto:rene.krause@uct.ac.za


130         June 2021, Vol. 13, No. 2  AJHPE

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The intention was to strengthen the oncology curriculum and align it with 
international standards and the SA National Framework and Strategy on 
Palliative Care.[3,6]

The curriculum was developed after a process of consultation, drawing 
from a survey among trainees, exploring the knowledge and attitudes 
towards PC. A focus group discussion (FGD) among experts in cancer care, 
including both academic and private oncology and PC experts, was also 
conducted, drawing on international recommendations on PC training.[7,8] 
The conclusions drawn from this process included that PC should indeed 
form part of all oncology services, that PC is a critical part of oncology 
training, that PC training should be delivered in a structured curriculum 
with well-defined outcomes, that PC training should be provided early 
in the training, that PC should form part of the summative academic 
assessment and that communication skills should be a critical component 
of the course.

These findings were presented to the College of Radiation Oncologists of 
SA at the examiners’ meeting held in October 2016. A general agreement was 
reached that a PC course should be delivered to new registrars in oncology 
over a 1-year programme, to be conducted from August 2017 to September 
2018, that should include 12  modules. Concerns were raised around the 
feasibility of such a course in an already full curriculum, and therefore not 
all universities participated in this pilot project. The course used a mixed 
mode of teaching, with online content and monthly facilitation sessions. The 
main modules included principles of PC (5%), communication skills (40%), 
pain and symptom control (30%), ethical and legal aspects around end-of-
life care (5%), the implementation of advance directives (5%), bereavement 
and interdisciplinary teamwork (5%) and burnout and compassion fatigue 
(5%) (Table 1). It was also agreed that such a course should demonstrate 
evidence of improvement in teaching and learning outcomes in order to 
justify implementation, and that this would be best shown as part of a 
research project. 

Problem statement
Before the introduction of this course, there was no structured PC curriculum 
within the SA oncology specialist training programme. Additions to an already 
full curriculum should not overburden trainees, should be appropriate for the 
SA setting and should demonstrate improvement in teaching and learning 
outcomes of oncology trainees. The rationale for this study was to evaluate a 
1-year palliative care training module within the oncology curriculum. 

Methodology
All oncology training centres across SA were invited to participate in the 
course, but owing to logistical constraints, only five universities participated 
(UCT, Stellenbosch University, Walter Sisulu University, the University of 
KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) (Pietermaritzburg) and the University of the Free 
State). The main reason cited for not participating was resource constraints. 
Facilitators were trained at a 2-day workshop at the beginning of the course. 
During the workshop, the training team familiarised the facilitators with 
the Vula e-learning website and training materials, and upskilled them in 
communication skills and in providing student feedback. The modules were 
developed via a collaborative approach between oncology and PC. The final 
modules addressed concepts around self-care, and were developed with the 
help of psychologists. 

Five pre- and five post-training multiple-choice questions (MCQs) 
were developed for each assessment. Communication skills were assessed 
using a modified Calgary-Cambridge method.[9] The communication skill 
assessment formed part of the formative assessment, and provided an 
opportunity for registrars to receive feedback on their communication skills.

The facilitators also met monthly online to discuss the new learning 
material and to reflect on the previous month’s lectures. Each site had 
a monthly meeting in which the material was discussed, and a task was 
completed to apply new theory learned. The participating universities 
invited all specialist trainees to participate in the research project, and 
assured them that their training would not be affected if they decided 
not to participate. Thirty-two oncology trainees from the five universities 
participated. These trainees included SA and international registrars. 
Although the course was geared towards adult PC, a paediatric oncology 
trainee also participated. 

Continuous evaluation of the course was made essential, and was used to 
demonstrate whether there was evidence of improvement in the identified 
proficiencies. The course was evaluated using the theory of the adapted 
version of the Kirkpatrick triangle.[10] The best evidence medical education 
(BEME) collaboration adapted a version of the Kirkpatrick triangle called 
‘Kirkpatrick’s hierarchy’ system to higher education for evaluation.[10,11] 
This modified version was adopted to measure ‘soft outcomes’ of the 
course together with short-term and tangible outcomes. A mixed mode of 
evaluation was used to measure both quantitative and qualitative data to 
determine a comprehensive review of teaching activity.[10] This enabled the 
researcher to capture the softer nuances of the impact of the course. One of 
the objectives of the course was to evaluate the oncology trainees’ reaction 
to teaching and learning by completing anonymous online evaluations. 
These evaluated the structure of the course, the relevance of the discussion 
groups, the course material and the applicability of the material in daily 
clinical practice. FGDs were conducted to determine trainees’ perceived 
change in attitudes and perceptions towards PC. The second objective was 
to determine the trainees’ change in knowledge and skills by asking them 
to complete pre- and post-training MCQs after each module. The third 
objective was to determine the application of knowledge and skills of PC 
in oncology practice by interviewing the supervisors of trainees. Change 
in organisational practice and benefit to patients were not included in 
this study.

The quantitative data gathered were statistically analysed, and the 
qualitative data were analysed by the research team using thematic analysis. 
The researchers familiarised themselves with the transcripts collected. 
Through inductive and iterative processes, themes were identified, and 

Table 1. Modules and content
Module Topic
1 Principles of palliative medicine in oncology
2 Communication skills: Basic principles
3 Communication skills: Breaking bad news
4 Communications skills: Conversations around serious illness 

and care planning
5 Communication skills: Managing conflict
6 Pain management
7 Gastrointestinal symptoms
8 Dyspnoea and delirium
9 Constitutional and treatment-related symptoms
10 End-of-life care
11 The role of the oncologist providing comprehensive care
12 Self-care



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were adjusted and/or confirmed. Confirmation 
bias was limited by using a multidisciplinary 
research team and an anonymous evaluation 
platform, and by including feedback from senior 
supervisors.

Ethics approval was obtained from the UCT 
Human Research Ethics Committee (ref. no. 
HREC 851/2016). Ethics approval was also 
obtained from the ethics departments of all 
the universities who participated in this study 
(UKZN ref. no RECIP 299/17; other universities 
letters provided). Twelve online modules were 
developed with MCQs.

Results
Feedback from the five sites indicated that 
trainees participated enthusiastically, and that the 
material resonated with their daily experiences. 
The Vula e-learning site provided researchers 
with the number of times the site was visited by 
the registrars (Fig. 1) up to 6 months after the 
completion of the course, and data on resources 
most used (Table 2). Videos were the most 
frequently used resource, and the site was most 
often visited when communication skills were 
addressed. The videos that were most watched 
were those on pain management (174 views) 
and breaking bad news (125 views). The written 
resource the registrars used most was ‘Guide to 
the treatment of cancer pain’.[12]

There was excellent attendance at the monthly 
meetings. Although not all registrars completed 
the required online preparation, there was active 

participation by all at the meetings themselves. 
Unfortunately, owing to workload restrictions, only 
a 1-hour meeting was allocated per module. This 
should ideally be longer, as each module generated 
enthusiastic discussions that had to be cut short. 
The modules that generated the most discussion 
were communication, self-care, end-of-life care 
and comprehensive care. This may be due to these 
subjects not having been part of any formal oncology 
training in the past. These modules are also very 
emotive, and the meetings allowed the registrars 
to express and debate ideas that would be difficult 
to discuss in a forum or chat room. The registrars 
often incorporated real-life cases into these meetings, 
which helped add a valuable practical side to the 
course. The structure of the modules (Fig. 2), the 
relevance of the discussion groups (Fig.  3), the 
appropriateness of the course material (Fig. 4) and 
of the applicability of the material in daily clinical 
practice (Fig. 5) were anonymously evaluated. 
Modules 7 and 8 received 100% positive feedback. 
This evaluation also assisted in reviewing modules 
for further courses (module 4 was not evaluated 
owing to technical difficulties, so is excluded from 
the figures).

The changes between the pre- and post-test 
results of the MCQs were analysed by running 
repeated sample t-tests on each module. The 
differences between the pre- and post-test results 
are generally not statistically significant, except 
for those from module 1 and module 7, which 
demonstrated negative (module 1) and positive 
(module 7) outcomes in terms of a change of 

knowledge. In modules 5 and 8 the sample size 
was small,[5] tending to significance (p=0.099 and 
0.089, respectively). This may require further 
exploration in a larger group to determine 
whether the effect is real. The small number of 
participants completing the MCQs was the main 
reason that the statistical tests were not of any 
value. The problem was not the construction 
of the MCQ questionnaire, but rather the way 
that it was situated within the programme, 
and the fact that it was not made obligatory. 
Online assessment may not be the best form of 
assessment if it is not rigorously enforced.

Focus groups
In general, better feedback information was 
obtained from the FGDs than from the assessment 
documents. Data were analysed using systematic 
thematic analysis with inductive coding. The FGD 
notes were read and reread, and discussed with 
the research team. Themes emerged as shown in 
Table 3.

Theme 1: Attitudes towards the course
Positive feedback
It was clear that registrars deal with PC on a daily 
basis. The course introduced topics that form part 
of their daily work. There was an overwhelmingly 
positive attitude towards the course, and all 
registrars felt that they wanted to continue with 
it. The course changed their approach to PC, 
and most stated that PC is part of oncology care. 
Many felt that the course highlighted the fact 
that PC is an essential component of oncology 
training not only for palliative patients, but for 
better management of all oncology patients:

‘It is actually part of the bread and butter of 
oncology in my experience and there is so 
much that we’ve learnt throughout the module 
with regards to palliative care.’ Student, UKZN 
(StUK) ref 3
‘For palliative care is, even in the non-
metastatic setting, in patients with curable 
intent or radical intent, there is still so much 
that you can learn from palliative care in terms 
of communication skills, breaking bad news 
and so I found it extremely important in the 
oncology setting.’ StUK ref 4

Negative feedback
It was an adjustment for the registrars to become 
online students. There was also variability 
in terms of the different facilitators at each 
university, which affected registrars’ attitude 
towards the course. Registrars also felt that 

Table 2. Resources most frequently opened
Resource Vula visits, n
Pain module mp4 174
Breaking bad news mp4 125
Serious illness conversation mp4 91
Dyspnoea in end-stage cancer mp4 89
The oncologist providing comprehensive care 81
End-of-life care 74

2017 2018 2019

500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100

50
0

Si
te

 v
is

it
s,

 n

 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Study period

141

54

316

49 54

222

432

285

201

63

200 187

326

116

406

150
183

207 196

77
21

55
18 7 1

Fig. 1. Vula visits by registrars over course period, n.



132         June 2021, Vol. 13, No. 2  AJHPE

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many of the skills were not mentored to them, because supervisors had no 
training in PC. This lack of comprehensive training affected integration 
into the daily care of patients: 

‘That one is just an IT challenge, where sometimes every time you needed 
to log in.’ Student, Stellenbosch University (StUS) ref 3
‘I think, I know is probably idealistic thinking but I do think that 
not, maybe if you could have like a crash course version for even 
consultants … I also think it will be good for them to understand 
what it is that we are learning in the curriculum and it would help 
them support us when we try to apply these things in the day-to-day 
dealing with patients in clinic and all of these.’ Student, University of 
Cape Town (StUU) ref 3

Theme 2: Workload and structure of the course
Feasibility
The registrars felt that the workload was achievable and that the course 
was feasible in their own setting. The supervisors’ concern was that some 
registrars did not prepare for lectures beforehand. There were some 
concerns about how to better teach communication skills and mentoring, 
and about how to use these in current clinical practice: 

‘I have to just generalise I would say that the curriculum is quite 
comprehensive and that the pace at which the curriculum was presented 
was a good, manageable for the students and for the facilitator and that 
the variety of faculty brought depth and richness to the curriculum.’ 
Supervisor, Stellenbosch University (SupUS) ref 1
‘I know this is not the question but um, probably the communication 
part is something that is still struggling to, you know, kind of apply 
practically just because of the kind of feasibility of it in our setting.’ 
StUU ref 1
‘I think a negative thing for me was that during the course, most of the 
time, most of the students did not, you know, did not prepare beforehand.’ 
Supervisor, University of the Free State ref 1

Structure of the course
Registrars wanted short, precise and very practical material. They enjoyed 
the video material and group interactions. However, supervisors felt that the 
course needed to be more academic, with journal articles and assessments 
built in, in order to engage registrars in their capacity as postgraduates:

‘I think it will be nice to be, maybe interactive with the other groups in 
other parts of the country.’ StUS ref 1
‘… felt that the videos were very, very nice.’ StUU ref 4
‘I also feel that way and I do think that it sometimes takes the academics 
out of it. We mustn’t take the academics out of it.’ SupUU ref 7

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Module

%

Positive Neutral Negative

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fig. 3. Participant (registrar) evaluation of discussion group relevance.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Module

%

Positive Neutral Negative

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fig. 2. Participant (registrar) evaluation of module structure.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Module

%

Positive Neutral Negative

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fig. 4. Participant (registrar) evaluation of appropriateness of course material.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Module

%

Positive Neutral Negative

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fig. 5. Participant (registrar) evaluation of ability of course material to assist registrars 
in daily practice.

Table 3. Focus group discussions
Theme 1: Attitude towards the course

Positive
Negative

Theme 2: Workload and structure of the course
Feasibility
Structure
Modules

Theme 3: Application in the workplace
Theme 4: Integration of palliative care principles into oncology



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Modules
The module that contributed most to registrars’ learning was communication 
skills. The registrars felt that this assisted them in learning and development 
beyond working with PC patients:

‘I also think that communication and breaking bad news is the main 
thing.’ StUF ref5
‘…will improve my way of relating to patients. And I found it very valuable 
when I was doing my exams because it helped me really communicate 
very well during the oral exams. Communications were very key both 
to the question, in taking history and also to the examiners.’ StUU ref 6

Pain management was a vital component to the course, and this was 
supported by supervisors and by registrars:

‘I can say that I have seen changes and it will mostly be around pain 
management.’ SupUS ref1
‘I think the module on pain control and it was more I think the practical 
advice that you as a palliative care physician could actually offer, that you 
can’t really get in textbooks which were very, very useful.’ StUU ref 1

Self-care was a new topic introduced into oncology as a formal component 
in the curriculum:

‘…think for me probably the one module that stood out the most for me 
was the self-care. I think at the end of the day as a clinician in order for 
you to be able to manage your patient well, you have to be physically, 
mentally, you have to be mentally, you know, in the right space to be 
able to treat with, to deal with your patient.’ Student Eastern Cape ref 1

Theme 3: Application in the workplace
The registrars indicated that the course contributed to their daily practice 
and that it gave them the confidence to manage situations that they 
confronted regularly and in which they had not previously received training. 
The training also contributed to their approach to dealing with patients for 
curative intent, and they stated that they could use the skills in activities 
other than patient interactions:

‘It gave us a bit more confidence to approach a lot of the topics. So we 
were able to manage our patients a bit more confidently with good 
backing and theoretical knowledge of each subject matter.’ StUK ref 2 
‘I can say that I have seen changes and it will mostly be around pain 
management.’ SupUS ref 1

Theme 4: Integration of PC into oncology
The course enabled registrars to integrate key concepts in PC: PC starts 
at diagnosis; holistic care; teamwork; pain and symptom control; and the 
involvement of the family. The course also enabled registrars to see the role 
of a PC team in the care of oncology patients:

‘I feel is very important because we deal with a lot of patients that require 
palliative care and palliative care being not just for the end-stage patients, 
at beginning, right from the beginning from the diagnoses.’ StUS ref 1
‘We generally tend to focus more towards chemotherapy and radiation 
not forgetting the more important biopsychosocial, the psychosocial 
part of it. So it made us more aware of trying to address those problems 
providing us with insight into an approach to these problems and enable 
us to provide holistic management in all aspect of care.’ StUKref6

‘I think also is good to also be aware of your own limitations. You know to 
be aware that there are palliative care facilities and the team of palliative 
care specialists. To know when your role, you know, I have done all I can 
and I need to call someone else in.’ StUF ref 1

Discussion
The course was developed using minimal resources but with strong 
collaboration among groups. The collaborators were the departments of 
palliative medicine (UCT), radiation oncology (UCT), health professional 
education (UCT), radiation oncology (Stellenbosch University), a private 
palliative care physician and the Cancer Association of SA (CANSA). It used 
blended learning to enable facilitation in different oncology settings and to 
support facilitators across SA. The facilitators came from five universities, 
which enabled a community of trainers to develop. 

Blended learning is a new method of learning and assessment for many 
registrars and supervisors, and some registrars found this challenging. In 
future, more time needs to be spent initially familiarising registrars and 
supervisors with an online teaching platform. Although blended learning 
has its challenges, it enables support and development of more geographical 
sites in integrating PC into a curriculum using minimal resources.

The first objective of this research was to determine the reaction of 
oncology registrars and their supervisors to a PC course. There was an 
overwhelmingly positive reaction towards the course, and it surpassed our 
expectations. Concerns from supervisors about issues such as the feasibility 
and appropriateness of the course and material were unsubstantiated. PC 
training in oncology is feasible, and the topics addressed were appropriate. 
This was supported by both anonymous evaluation forms and qualitative 
data from the FGDs.

The modules on communication skills and pain and symptom 
management were found to be the most valuable components of the course 
for registrars. This was supported by evaluation forms, data from the Vula 
site and FGDs. Self-care was also found to be a valuable component of the 
course, and may be included in more programmes, according to comments 
received from the FGDs.

The second objective was to determine changes brought about in 
knowledge and skills in PC. Some negative aspects of this study were that 
there were generally no statistically significant changes in pre- and post-
test results, and that there was poor completion of the online assessment. 
Knowledge in practical aspects such as pain and symptom control 
improved, however. The FGDs demonstrated that the registrars’ knowledge 
of what PC is and how they could integrate the principles in their daily 
work improved. 

The third objective was to determine the application of knowledge and 
skills of PC in oncology practice. The registrars felt that the course made 
oncology ‘more fluid’, which enabled them to move between disease-
specific care and a patient-centred approach, and between a curative 
and a palliative approach, more easily. The course addressed topics that 
formed part of their daily work. The skills and knowledge most applicable 
in the oncology setting are communication skills and pain and symptom 
management. These skills therefore need to be core components that must 
be included in all oncology curricula. However, these competencies do not 
stand alone, and are best managed if the principles of PC are integrated 
into all components of care.



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Conclusion
Internationally, PC is an essential component in oncology training, and should 
be incorporated into the SA specialist oncology training programme.[1] PC 
forms part of the daily practice of oncologists, and a structured curriculum 
enables clinicians to practise using an evidence-based approach. This 
provides registrars with confidence when managing a patient with PC 
needs. Supervisors of oncology training and registrars in the present study 
proved confident that the training of 12 modules across 1 year is feasible and 
appropriate. These skills are part of daily practice, and support the WHA 
resolution 67.19 that PC training is an integral component of oncologist 
training:

‘Intermediate training should be offered to all health care workers who 
routinely work with patients with life-threatening illnesses, including 
those working in oncology, infectious diseases, paediatrics, geriatrics, and 
internal medicine.’[1]

The sustainability of this course can only be ensured by advocating for 
strong collaboration between academic oncology units and academic PC 
units. PC training must also become available to the oncologist who has not 
been previously exposed to it, through short courses. This may serve as a 
module to integrate PC into other disciplines.

Declaration. This study formed part of RK’s PhD research.
Acknowledgements. CANSA.

Author contributions. RK: data collection; RK and LG: analysis; all authors: 
manuscript writing; all authors: scientific input.
Funding. CANSA.
Conflicts of interest. None. 

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3. National Department of Health, South Africa. National Policy Framework and Strategy on Palliative Care 2017 
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(accessed 7 June 2021).

Accepted 24 June 2020.

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https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(12)70211-5
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https://painsa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/A5-Guide-to-treatment-of-Cancer-Pain-2015.pdf