Message from the CROF Chair, Andrea Bezjak

The Canadian Radiation Oncology Foundation (CROF), formed in 2007, continues to support CARO on its mission of promoting timely access to high quality radiation therapy by raising funds and raising awareness of radiation therapy amongst our various stakeholders – medical students and other trainees, the public, our colleagues and donors. You can view our mission, visions and values here.

Our largest focus to date has been fundraising in support of the Pamela Catton Summer Studentship Award – an opportunity for medical students to learn more about our specialty and spend six weeks in the radiation oncology department at a school of their choice. This special program began in 2013 in partnership with the CARO Education committee, and CROF has been supporting it on an annual basis. With increased funding from donors, the Pamela Catton Summer Studentship program has grown from just three students a year to supporting seven students each year. A total of 32 medical students have benefited from this joint venture from 2013 to 2018 with placements in nine different cancer centres from coast to coast and we look forward to growing that number in the future. The experience has been uniformly positive, with students gaining a deeper appreciation of radiation oncology as a field, and a number of them choosing radiation oncology as a career

Our immediate goal for the future is to expand this annual program even further, include more schools and cancer centers, and increase the stipend from the very modest current one. Your donations are what drive the future of this program. Please support CROF and the future of Radiation Oncology in this important initiative by making your donation today.

Sincerely,

Dr. Andrea Bezjak

Chair, Canadian Foundation of Radiation Oncology