Boston Leadership Institute: Oncology

To begin, students will learn which symptoms are tell-tale signs of cancer. After this, they'll tackle the complex process of diagnosing, which will involve staging the cancer and providing a prognosis to the patient.

From here, students will study treatments including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. They'll examine the effects, both positive and negative, of these radical measures, and they'll perform mock surgery to get a hands-on feel for removing cancer from a patient's body.

Following treatment methods, the program will take a look at survival rates, terminal patients, and hospice care. We'll also look to the future, studying brand new treatments and how cancer researchers are coming closer than ever to a cure.

In addition, students will study the anatomy of cancer itself. How does it grow? In what bodily environments does it thrive? They'll also look at neighboring specialties such as genetic engineering and precision medicine and why these are vital to Oncology.

This program will provide great exposure for the next generation of scientists who are considering a cancer research related career in the future. Boston, one of the medical capitals of the world, is home to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which is one of the best and most comprehensive cancer treatment and research centers. Students will have the opportunity to learn from teachers with PhDs in oncology in laboratory and lecture settings with scheduled field trips to some of Boston’s best medical institutions.