ASCO Quality Training Program: A Five-Year Review.

PURPOSE: ASCO introduced the Quality Training Program (QTP) in 2013 with the aim to train oncology professionals to design, implement, and lead successful quality improvement (QI) activities and assume leadership positions to champion culture change in their practices. METHODS: The QTP is a formal 6-month program taught by QI faculty and mentored by QI coaches over 5 days of in-person learning across 3 sessions and hands-on learning at the participants' practices. Sessions include seminars, case examples, and small-group exercises. Participants attend in multidisciplinary teams and focus on a problem they wish to solve in their practice. Scheduled conference calls with QI coaches are held between sessions. Participants complete pre- and post-QTP surveys (10-point Likert scale, with 1 = no knowledge/competence and 10 = complete knowledge/competence) and provide direct written feedback. RESULTS: Since its inception, QTP has had 15 courses (10 domestic and 5 international) with 120 teams and 544 total participants. QTP is led by an 8-member steering group with 16 faculty and coaches. All postsurvey items showed an increase in knowledge and competence. Each item's score was calculated as the mean difference between before and after scores. Participants stated an increase of 46%-84% (overall mean increase: knowledge, 38%; competence, 37%). The greatest increases were in methodology and practical tools to make changes in practice (writing an aim statement, implementing rapid improvement, using process analysis tools, flowcharting the process). The most common suggestion for improvement was allowing more time for the project. Participants are encouraged to write articles and present work in poster and plenary sessions. QTP courses have led to 7 manuscripts and 21 abstract presentations to national meetings. Six QTP alumni are now QI coaches and faculty. CONCLUSION: The QTP is a successful QI course for oncology professionals who need to measure performance, investigate quality and safety issues, and implement change. It is the only oncology-focused QI training, as all faculty and coaches are providers and QI specialists with oncology experience, which makes this a unique opportunity. The success will provide further momentum to offer QTP domestically and around the world.

Progress in ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry and ecology.

This Editorial introduces a series of papers on 'Progress in ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry and ecology' and was initiated in the context of the Joint SETAC GLB/GDCh Annual Meeting 2013 at the University of Duisburg-Essen. According to the title of the conference 'Ecotoxicology in an urban context' (Ökotoxikologie im urbanen Raum), a couple of conference contributions dealing with the occurrence and availability of pollutants relevant for organisms in urban environments will be published as papers in this series. Additional contributions with a focus on current developments in any field of ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry or ecology or which specifically address the importance of multiple stressors are welcome. We cordially invite all colleagues who feel they can contribute to the topic to submit a manuscript to ESEU with reference to this series.

Nitrogen dynamics in Posidonia oceanica cuttings: implications for transplantation experiments.

A (15)N tracer study was performed during an experimental transplantation trial of natural Posidonia oceanica cuttings. The experiment was done in situ at 17 m depth in the Revellata Bay (Calvi, NW Corsica, France). Despite high survival rates of transplants (>90%) after one year, the weight and the N content of transplants are significantly lower than those of reference plants. In absence of roots, the transplants are not able to meet their N requirement, because leaf uptake is insufficient to replenish the N lost during the natural leaf decay. This could constitute a major cause of long-term failure for transplantation experiments or natural re-colonisation processes. The increase of the (15)N content in the roots shows that the plant re-allocates the nitrogen of one organ (i.e. leaves, rhizomes) to ensure the growth of another (i.e. roots).