Born from the training need to intervene on the basic focal themes that make up the path of the patient undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant, the distance learning course entitled: "ALLOGENEIC HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANT", coordinated by the scientific director William Arcese, Professor of Hematology at theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, has attracted the interest of more than two thousand members nationwide, to the great satisfaction of the Academy UCBM, who oversaw the provision of ECM accreditation. A successful participation on such a large scale represents the best confirmation of how the objective of spreading culture and building training on this procedure and on the numerous and complex clinical-therapeutic implications of Allogeneic Transplantation has been fully achieved. To underline the importance of the result achieved, we propose the interview given to us by the Scientific Director, Prof. William Arcese, and the course teacher, Dr. Maria Cristina Tirindelli, of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital Foundation.
Prof. Arcese, in recent years, there has been a significant change in the approach to the treatment of hematological neoplasms. In the transplant field, what was the most pressing need behind the creation of this distance learning course that, in its specificity, has achieved such great success in terms of participation?
In view of the imminent start of the clinical activity of Allogeneic Transplantation at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, the need was felt to involve in an educational process of culture and training all the operators, be they doctors of other disciplines, nurses, biologists or technicians, who could potentially be involved in the application of a new and complex therapeutic procedure such as allogeneic transplantation, which presents numerous specific peculiarities, very different from those pertaining to the practice of autologous transplantation, which has been in place for some time at the Haematology Department of the Campus Bio-Medico. The need for a multidisciplinary aspect inherent in the conduct of an allogeneic transplant is associated with another consideration, which I would define as strategic, since the practice of an allogeneic transplant, by directive and health regulation, is a prerequisite for the possibility of practicing cellular therapy, which constitutes the new and most advanced therapeutic perspective not only in the haematological field but also concerns several other disciplines such as Oncology, Neurology, Autoimmune systemic diseases, etc.
Can we say that it was the peculiarity of involving, with multidisciplinary interest, more health workers that made the difference in this course?
Certainly, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, unlike solid organ transplantation, involves, directly or indirectly, all the organs and systems of the body and therefore, on a clinical level, it must be considered transversal to the different disciplines, but I think that an important reason, even if not the only one, that can justify the success of the course is to be referred to its organic nature and its design, which, from biology to clinical practice, sequentially covers and examines in depth all the aspects of a complex subject, for which training or refresher courses are more frequently proposed, perhaps even more in-depth, but on partial topics.
Does this mean that the 17 ECM credits that the course provides with 19 chapters divided into three video lessons, reflect a complete training that, if carried out in a fractional manner with a variability of choice of interest, perhaps would not have had the same response?
There is no doubt that the essential characteristic of this long-lasting course is precisely its basic completeness, fundamental for the training of multiple health disciplines, so much so that it has also been accepted by various ASL and Institutes that have imposed its attendance to employees who deal with this sector, precisely by virtue of its completeness.
From the perspective ofUCBM Academy to offer training content in line with the most current visionsof the clinical-therapeutic evolution, what was in your opinion, Dr. Tirindelli, the innovative criterion with which the program of this course was designed?
First of all, it must be said that, having started in residential form in 2022, the course, with the necessary updates, was then re-proposed in FAD form and this has certainly contributed to an exponential growth in participation. But the criterion that has favored such a broad interest is that the course program responds to a logic of the daily activity of healthcare workers in a sector, which is already in itself a multidisciplinary sector.
Can you explain to us in particular in what sense?
In the sense that doctors are involved, but a fundamental component is also represented by nurses as well as biologists and specialist technicians in the more strictly technological sector. It must be kept in mind, in fact, that the therapy of our patients is based on a therapy made up of cells. These cells are in turn taken from a donor. This involves the involvement of structures responsible not only for the collection of these cells, but also for their conservation and minimal manipulation. Before being able to provide the therapy, we therefore start from an initial biological product that only later becomes therapy for a patient.
Integrated clinical data and technical aspects therefore make the topic complex and thematically broad. In this framework, is the trend towards interdisciplinary training integration projected towards the growth of new professional synergies reflected?
Certainly the complexity of the subject matter, as we have already said, makes the course multidisciplinary as a whole and, in this sense, capable of arousing such a broad interest on the part of many professionals from different fields and on multiple levels of action, but all equally ready to coordinate their work in function of a collaborative synergy of the highest quality level.Prof. Arcese: if I may add, this synergy is already evident in the team of teachers involved in the course to provide, each for their own area, the specific contribution in the clinical field, but also technical. For example, one of the aspects that we have included in the course is the search for the donor that occurs when there is no compatible family member, and that is done on international registries or on umbilical cord blood banks. Well, the report on the specific topic was carried out by the coordinators of this research, confirming not only the completeness of the topics included in the program, but also the competence of those who carry them out, which is operational competence in the field and not just theoretical.
Aiming at the highest levels of qualitative excellence, which you mentioned, Dr. Tirindelli, what guidelines have been taken into consideration?
The address follows the scientific guidelines of our sector, curated by the National Transplant Center and the National Blood Center which is specifically dedicated to the programs of transplantation of both autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells. An aspect that deserves to be underlined is that this course also meets a regulatory need because since 2021 the Ministry of Health has issued a directive in line with the aforementioned guidelines. When talking about training, it is well highlighted that for these operators of various roles, fundamentally doctors but also nurses, there must be mandatory annual training of at least 10 hours on the topic. It is clear that this training can take place in different forms, you can participate in national and international conference events, but at the base of all transplant centers it must be taken into account to have to comply with this training requirement.
In conclusion, Prof. Arcese, in the face of a subject in continuous development, as scientific director of the course, what training prospects would you like to open for the near future?
In a constantly evolving subject, it is impossible to think of repeating exactly the same topics from one year to the next. Sometimes some topics are quite stable, but others are not: when a newly published scientific article comes out, the need for a timely update arises. However, there is the possibility of considering the creation of some branches of content, which can offer new learning ideas for professionals in the sector. The course can remain substantially set up on the basis of its initial program from which, with constant updating, specific situations of in-depth study can emerge, which will be the subject of training innovations.
