A systems approach to cancer

Doctors have a duty to teach and share information. This applies at all levels of the medical hierarchy: from consultants supervising trainees to house officers supporting students on the wards. But the duty to share does not stop at teaching; medicine thrives on collaboration. Doctors collaborate with medical colleagues, allied health professionals, and with patients in every consultation. A Systems Approach to Cancer represents collaboration between academics, clinicians, and student doctors. It addresses cancer – a disease which can only ever be beaten by collaborative partnerships, initiative, and commitment from the next generation of health professionals. This book stands to achieve three goals. First, it will encourage students to take control of their own learning. Studying medicine requires a high degree of independence and students should not be afraid to think laterally when they perceive a deficit in existing study resources. Second, it demonstrates that genuinely useful outcomes can arise from students and teachers talking to, and working with, one another. Finally, it adds an additional resource – uniquely informed by the undergraduate perspective – to student textbooks on cancer. I wish the editors every success in realising these ambitions.