Introducing the Affidea Clinical Education Initiative: Interview with Dr Rosana Santos

This quarter, we are excited to present the Affidea Clinical Education Initiative, a Group level programme, which focuses on:

  • Establishing a virtual clinical onboarding, as well as professional development programmes
  • Further developing subspecialty-related content to drive DI & Clinical Service Excellence
  • Implementing and promoting the Affidea Clinical Academy and Clinical Knowledge Hub
  • Designing & delivering a series of webinars and courses for internal and external audiences to focus on new screening programmes, modalities and products to support growth

 

Headed by Dr Rosana Santos who, as Group Clinical Education Scientific Lead, will oversee clinical education initiatives, the team and the project were launched in Q2 2022. Rosana is a radiologist and has been the Affidea República Clinical Leader in Lisbon, Portugal for the past three years. Together with a dedicated team with a special interest in educational initiatives, a successful educational strategy is being developed, impressively reaching out to referring physicians and also, importantly, contributing to Affidea's reputation in the radiological community and amongst healthcare providers.

Could you tell us about the rationale behind the Affidea Clinical Education Initiative?

The rationale for this project is the never-ending need to continuously upgrade scientific knowledge, which is of the essence for excellence in clinical performance.

How was the transition from Clinical Radiologist to the role of Affidea Clinical Education Initiative Lead? And how has the adaptation process been so far?

The transition was thoughtfully prepared by Affidea Portugal Medical Director Luís Rosa, and the adaptation process has been gradual yet straightforward. This is thanks to the solid and kind support from our Chief Medical Officer, Dr Alessandro Roncacci, whom I thank for the vote of confidence. Also, the wonderful Team I am working directly with – Inês Ferreira and Marina Gerszewska - whose experience and professionalism made it all look easy, as well as the generosity of Nasia Papachristodoulou and Chryssa Paraskevopoulou and the other key opinion leads I have met so far, who are inspiring role models for the work they have been developing in Affidea. It is an honour to work closely with them.

What do you consider to be the most important contributing factors from your academic experience for the Affidea Clinical Education Initiative?

Teaching, both in Medical School and in the Radiology Department of my former hospital, has played a major role. Also, being part of the Board of Directors of the Radiology Committee of the National Medical Association in my country provides me with an insight into some trending issues. The organisation of scientific events at the hospital and through the National Society of Radiology was naturally transported and taken to a higher level with the creation of the Affidea Scientific Talks. The first edition was an adventure we embarked upon, without anticipating that it would become a permanent tradition leveraged to corporate level.  

What led you to accept such a challenge?

My interest in the search for continuous professional development and specialised outpatient care, which I believe is the benchmark of clinical excellence in everyday practice and one of Affidea’s hallmarks as a market leader in the medical community. 

Could you indicate some of the plans of the Affidea Clinical Education Team?

The plans include both local and corporate initiatives, engaging our own Clinical Teams.

Local projects have the advantage of allowing for the involvement of referring physicians in multidisciplinary initiatives, which serve not only the purpose of optimising clinical performance, but also strengthening communication with referring physicians, along with presenting our best practices to the wider healthcare provider community.  

Corporate projects have the added value of enhancing and uniformising best practices and thus raising standards under the scope of clinical quality services in all Affidea countries.  

The projects aim to engage continuous radiological education and subspecialisation, extend and coordinate learning solutions, share knowledge hand in hand with clinical teams based on their daily needs, and pursue the most updated advanced diagnostics, the core of Affidea’s business.

Furthermore, it entails the optimisation of the visibility and reputation of Affidea among healthcare providers and the radiological community, thus embracing new healthcare professionals into the Affidea clinical team. 

For the project’s success, the administration board's awareness of the importance of continuous professional improvement is decisive and of great merit.   

How do you plan to achieve these goals?  

Affidea has some important advantages - the corporate dimension, the culture of excellence, state-of-the-art technology, a well-established IT platform, and an outstanding, high-quality clinical team, driven by the interest, dedication, and proactiveness of the subspecialty leads, key opinion leads and medical directors.  

So, the plan includes the synergy of listening to the needs and expectations of the Clinical Team and it is only natural to make the most of the Team’s own expertise to meet the goals of this challenge, in close integration with the key pillar departments of Affidea. Webinars, courses, and a few other surprises are to be expected at the Affidea Academy! 

Locations
Location