UPMC’s Efforts in Kazakhstan Progressing

By: Mitchell Martin

In July 2013, UPMC announced an exciting partnership in the Eurasian region with Nazarbayev University of Kazakhstan.  UPMC was chosen by the university to help develop a modernized national cancer center. In collaboration with Nazarbayev University, the National Research Oncology Center (NROC) will serve the population of Kazakhstan, a nation with more than 30,000 new cancer cases diagnosed annually.

The facility being built in the vibrant capital city of Astana will include a hotel, an outpatient medical and radiation oncology facility, a research complex, a 300-400 bed hospital, and a guest house.

KazakThe complex is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016, and UPMC and the team in Kazakhstan are working hard to prepare the doctors and nurses with specialized training according to Western medical practices, which will meet one of the goals of NROC.  Since June 2, 20 nurses from Kazakhstan have been working to complete an intensive training program at UPMC.   At UPMC Shadyside and Hillman Cancer Center, Kazakh nurses have had the opportunity to attend lectures, complete simulation training modules, and receive hands-on experience with fellow professionals in Pittsburgh.

The roadmap to 2016 aims to promote early cancer detection and educate the care providers who will be laying the foundation for the NROC.  NROC and UPMC have organized the 2014 International Oncology Symposium, which will feature top surgeons and physicians who will discuss the latest technologies and procedures for oncological practices.  The International Oncology Symposium will take place in Astana on September 24-26.

Learn more about NROC and the International Oncology Symposium here.