Excellent Practices

Academical Education and Talent Development

Practice Category: Education

Centre: Karolinska Institute and University Hospital

Liselotte Bäckdahl

Research Coordinator Cancer Research KI

liselotte.backdahl@ki.se

Challenge addressed by the practice

  • Shortage of highly specialised oncologists and need to manage increasingly complex cancer treatments
  • Continuous professional development for nurses and researchers in oncology
  • Integration of clinical practice with research and innovation to strengthen cancer care centers

Solution

  • Karolinska CCC  emphasises staff education: internal training and paid advanced education for nurses to become oncology and surgical care specialists.
  • Oncology residency (ST training) for physicians at Karolinska University Hospital (Solna and Huddinge), including structured supervision, mandatory courses, and research opportunities.
  • Karolinska Institutet (KI) offers formal specialist programs at master’s level in both oncology and surgical nursing.
  • KI invests heavily in research talent development: PhD programs in tumour biology, postdoctoral programs (SciLifeLab Clinical Translational), and national research schools (e.g., NatiOn), as well as 300 PhD and post-doc courses in all research areas. A specific career support office to guide the staff and students, with for example, mentor programs, funding, innovation support, entrepreneurship courses and networking possibilities, as well as industry internships for PhD sudents and post-docs who would like to investigate an industry career. KI also has focus organisations such as WISE –Women In Science and Education, a network for female scientists and teachers, and Junior Faculty, an interest organisation for young scientists and aspiring PIs.

Impact

  • Improves patient care through evidence-based methods and multidisciplinary collaboration.
  • Enhances skills of nurses and physicians in advanced cancer care.
  • Strengthens research capacity and innovation in oncology.
  • Positions Karolinska CCC as an internationally leading cancer centre.

Critical success factors

  • Clear structure and national guidelines (National Board of Health and Welfare) for specialist training
  • Strong integration between clinical practice and academia (Karolinska Institutet)
  • Funding and incentives for research involvement (e.g., Research-ST, seed grants)
  • Qualified supervisors with pedagogical training and structured feedback
  • Support from professional networks such as the Swedish Oncology Society (SOF)

Next steps

  • Expand research tracks within oncology residency (e.g., translational oncology)
  • Increase international collaborations and exchange programs
  • Build infrastructure and partnerships, advance AI in diagnostics and prognostics, expand global access to screening, and develop next-generation tumour analytics tailored for precision oncology
  • Strengthen recruitment and outreach to attract more oncology specialists and researchers

Liselotte Bäckdahl