The collaboration between the University of Debrecen and Elekta in the field of radiotherapy devices and applications dates back to 2003, when one of the world's largest developers and manufacturers of linear accelerator systems installed its first piece of equipment at the Debrecen clinic, which was then followed by continuous developments.
In 2023, the most advanced pieces of equipment from Elekta's linear accelerator family were installed at our institution. Currently, there are as many as four high-performance Elekta linear accelerators used to treat cancer patients. The collaboration now also covers training, with the Oncoradiology Clinic becoming an Elekta Certified Regional Training Center.
“The management of the University of Debrecen is fully committed to maintaining and continuously improving the technological level of the Clinical Center, which is the largest patient care institution in our country. This, in turn, requires continuous cooperation with major companies, such as Elektra. By now, we have now reached a point in our partnership when a concrete educational cooperation agreement is signed in order to start the training of foreign oncoradiologists at the university with the help of Elekta. This is indeed a significant step forward for the University of Debrecen on a Euroregional scale,” said Rector of the University of Debrecen Zoltán Szilvássy.
As for Catalin Surdeanu, a representative of Elekta, she stressed that the specialists of the Oncoradiology Clinic have a lot of experience in the use and management of her company's equipment, which is why the institution was granted the title of training center.
“The competence and expertise of the staff of the University of Debrecen is of a very high standard, which makes both the institution and the Oncoradiology Clinic completely fit to take the role of a training center. There are several institutions in this region where professionals need such training, so they do not have to travel to Western Europe but can take the courses relatively close to their workplace in Debrecen,” said Catalin Surdeanu.
As a result of a series of serious preparatory and certification processes that have been carried out over the past year, the Oncoradiological Clinic of the University of Debrecen has by now earned the qualification Elekta Certified Regional Training Center.
“Beside and beyond technological improvements, our clinic has also made sure that a lot of effort gets channeled into providing continuous training. Now, we are at the end of a rather strict and rigorous certification process that lasted for almost six months. The employees from Elekta have assessed and examined the methodologies and procedures that we use on their equipment and this has provided the basis for us to qualify for this status. We are very proud that the activity we do in Debrecen is also up to international standards. We do hope that our current cooperation will also come in handy for future research and development programs,” said Árpád Kovács, Director of the Oncoradiological Clinic of the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen.
An annual number of six training courses are scheduled to be held each year at the Oncoradiological Clinic of UD’s Clinical Centre. Two-day courses on radio-surgical methodology and four-day courses on high-tech image-guided therapy procedures will be offered, covering both theoretical and practical aspects of training. The courses, which are to be launched as of next year, will be attended chiefly by staff members from institutions using similar systems in Central and Eastern European countries, such as Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
Press Centre - CzA
