Experiences of distress in the cancer process can have negative effects on the patient's health"

Currently, multiple lines of research and increasingly advanced therapies have been developed, focusing on the management and symptomatic control of cancer. This implies that patients experience short-, medium- and long-term effects of the disease. For this reason, a sub-specialty called "Psycho-Oncology" is beginning to emerge, which advocates for the psychosocial well-being of the oncology patient, the effects it has on their life and the impact on their family environment.

With the professional master’s degree in this area, physicians will be able to expertly specialize in the comprehensive care of their oncology patients in all phases of the disease, i.e., from diagnosis to cases requiring special care to ensure comfort in the last moments. This also includes the mental health of the patient's family members and caregivers during the progression of the disease.

In this degree program, special emphasis will be placed on the need to improve students' communication skills and abilities, which will ensure that they are able to manage their emotions in any stressful or conflictive situation. This will be essential for the patient to adequately understand the process they are about to face. Likewise, special attention will be paid to the students' need to effectively manage Burnout symptoms, encouraging personal self-care.

In this way, the student will learn about the advances and contributions of psychology to oncology, which will help them to determine, with the patient and their family, realistic therapeutic objectives. Likewise, they will learn the intervention techniques designed to emotionally accompany the patient, identifying the symptoms and psychological alterations that represent a threat to the effectiveness of the treatment.

For all these reasons, doctors who take this professional master’s degree will be able to become complete professionals. Therefore, they will be able to approach the disease from a novel approach that takes into account the emotional and social reality of the patient. Therefore, they can work in any hospital, nationally and internationally, under very stressful situations and a high emotional load. 

Help your patients understand and accept the unfavorable prognosis using techniques designed by psycho-oncologists"

This professional master’s degree in Psycho-Oncology contains the most complete and up-to-date educational program on the market. The most important features are:

• Practical cases presented by experts in Psycho-Oncology  and medicine
• The graphic, schematic, and eminently practical contents with which they are created, provide scientific and practical information on the disciplines that are essential for professional practice
• Practical exercises where the self-assessment process can be carried out to improve learning
• Special emphasis is placed on innovative methodologies in Applied Psycho-Oncology in medicine
• Theoretical lessons, questions to the expert, debate forums on controversial topics, and individual reflection assignments
• Content that is accessible from any fixed or portable device with an Internet connection

As a physician, you must take care of yourself to avoid job stress when working in the oncology department of a hospital"

The program’s teaching staff includes professionals from the sector who contribute their work experience to this training program, as well as renowned specialists from leading societies and prestigious universities.
  
The multimedia content, developed with the latest educational technology, will provide the professional with situated and contextual learning, i.e., a simulated environment that will provide immersive training programmed to train in real situations.

This program is designed around Problem Based Learning, whereby the professional must try to solve the different professional practice situations that arise during the academic year. For this purpose, the student will be assisted by an innovative interactive video system created by renowned and experienced experts.

It reduces the concern of an oncology patient by understanding their family and social situation"

Improve your skills to communicate with patients in an assertive and reassuring manner"

The professional master’s degree in Psycho-Oncology designed for physicians will foster the communication and empathy skills that health professionals need to work in an oncology team. Consequently, knowledge in this program will be indispensable when establishing a relationship with the patient, respecting their beliefs and decisions. At the same time, the needs of the family members, who will accompany the patient throughout the process, will be taken into account

Develop treatment plans that help improve your patients' physical and emotional symptoms" 

General Objectives

• Gain in-depth knowledge of the area of study and development of the profession
• Know the application of psychology in the nursing care for cancer
• Define the functions of a psycho-oncology unit and the role of the psycho-oncologist in the health care setting
• Gain in-depth knowledge of the different therapeutic options in the psychological treatment of cancer
• Contribute to the control of anemic disorders by means of appropriate psychological strategies
• Know how to assess and intervene in adaptive and maladaptive emotions and behaviors
• Understand the influence of the psychological aspects of each type of tumor and to contribute to their control by means of psychological strategies
• Know how to assess and intervene in adaptive and maladaptive emotions and behaviors of the different oncologic processes
• Know how to differentiate between adaptive and maladaptive emotions and behaviors at the end of life
• Explore and apply strategies for emotional self-regulation
• Know, evaluate, diagnose and intervene in the most prevalent psychological problems in palliative care
• Explore personal, social and cultural beliefs and values of the family in relation to illness and death Prepare for the loss
• Detect psychological reactions in the different phases of grief
• Provide appropriate individual and family bereavement support
• Prevention and early identification of pathological grief
• Gain in-depth knowledge of the basics and acquire basic communication skills
• Understand in depth the theoretical bases of the professional-patient relationship
• Be able to deliver bad news and answer difficult questions
• Elaborate an initial assessment (detailed clinical history) and analysis of the social and spiritual emotional impact on the patient and their family
• Know how to apply the instruments for the assessment of the patient and the family, useful and appropriate for each symptom and stage of the disease
• Know in depth the conceptual bases, the methodology, the systematics and the procedures related to research in psycho-oncology
• Search and select information: electronic databases, websites, libraries, magazines, texts, etc
• Apply bioethical principles to daily clinical practice with special emphasis on the most complex and specific situations
• Deepen understanding in the conceptual and practical bases of ethics applied to the oncological process
• Analyze in a scientific, rigorous and systematic way, ethical problems from an interdisciplinary perspective
• Deepen understanding of the methodology of bioethics, rational and interdisciplinary, and know how to apply it to concrete or general situations

Specific Objectives

Module 1. Characterization and Fields of Application of Psycho-Oncology

• Provide the necessary clinical knowledge of oncological disorders, epidemiology, etiology, risk factors, processes and diagnostic tests
• Train in the design and implementation of health promotion and cancer prevention and early detection programs
• Be able to argue about the area of study and the profession
• Identify the social needs of people with cancer and their families
• Analyze the influence of the perceived social support in cancer

Module 2. Psychological Treatments in Cancer and Third Generation Therapies

• Determine realistic treatment objectives together with the patient and/or their family
• Undergo training in the methods of intervention with cancer patients, especially empirically supported treatment techniques
• Identify those somatic symptoms and/or psychological alterations that are perceived by the patient as a threat
• Detect and enhance, as far as possible, the patient's own resources

Module 3. Most Relevant Psychological Aspects According to Different Tumor Locations

• Identify those somatic symptoms and/or psychological alterations that are perceived by the patient as a threat
• Compensate for, eliminate or attenuate such symptoms, symptom control
• Detect and enhance, as far as possible, the patient's own resources
• Facilitating adaptation to the disease during the biomedical treatment process (affecting anxiety, anguish, side effects of chemotherapy, phobias of radiotherapy devices, sexual dysfunctions and also hospital admissions)
• Encourage active coping styles
• Facilitate therapeutic adherence to medical treatment

Module 4. Protocols for Emotional Intervention at the End of Life

• Perform preventive care actions for the family according to the stages of the disease
• Address conflicts that may arise as a result of different socio-cultural beliefs and values between the team and the patient-family binomial
• Recognize and respond to spiritual distress and know how to refer the patient to the appropriate professional
• Develop appropriate assessments of the overall importance of the patient's spiritual beliefs and religious practices
• Manage the attitudes and responses of patients, caregivers and professionals derived from the professional-patient relationship
• Know how to intervene in particularly complex family situations
• Be able to work in cooperative groups and multi-professional teams

Module 5. Evaluation and Measurement Instruments

• Evaluate the complex psychological problems
• Apply assessment procedures and instruments for specific symptoms
• Acquire the training and practice to conduct quality of life assessment; plan the assessment and use specific instruments, conduct functional analysis, case formulation and reporting
• Assess family threats, needs and resources, and know how to apply family assessment tools
• Manage comprehensive assessment tools in palliative and end-of-life care

Module 6. Communication with the Oncologic Patient

• Work with a Patient-Centered Psychology
• Appropriately handle difficult situations and dealing with bad news
• Prevent and detect communication problems (e.g., pact of silence) and enhance family members' resources and strategies
• Manage the most complex communication difficulties
• Reflect critically on one's own attitudes and communication skills, identifying elements for continuous improvement during the care process

Module 7. Grief Management

• Prevent as much as possible the onset of complicated grief prior to death 
• Continue to prevent through emotional support, after the death, the onset of complicated grief, providing the tools that help the person to say goodbye to their loved one
• Provide guidance in carrying out bereavement tasks
• Develop the capacity for empathy, listening and compassion that allows us to be in tune with the patient's pain, without over-involvement and, at the same time, create a sufficiently strong
• therapeutic bond in the face of difficulties that may arise in the process

Module 8. Other Psychological Interventions in Specific Cancer-Related Areas

• Perform in-depth management of the combined protocol for the smoking withdrawal process and relapse prevention
• Perfect the skills and competencies necessary for the selection, training and supervision of volunteers
• Detect the psychological factors associated with participation in cancer screening and genetic counseling programs, as well as to encourage participation in them by increasing the perception of control
• Analyze the use and some of the advantages of group therapy compared to individual treatment
• Gain in-depth knowledge of psychological preparation programs for the different medical oncological treatments and their side effects
• Be able to identify and mitigate the sequelae that remain in cancer survivors

Module 9. Research in Cancer

• Design, develop and implement a research project
• Formulate scientific research hypotheses
• Analyze results and draw conclusions
• Train in scientific communication of research results
• Establish the ethical limitations of a research project
• Have the ability to apply empirical evidence in patient care
• Gain knowledge of good clinical practice guidelines and ethics committee standards

Module 10. Ethical Aspects in Psycho-Oncology and Psychology of Palliative Care

• Analyze ethical dilemmas in depth and from an interdisciplinary perspective
• Identify bioethical problems in the conduct of professionals, in health care activities or in biomedical research
• Argue decisions in the biomedical field with well-founded ethical value judgments
• Develop expressive and communicative skills on bioethical issues in order to be able to interact in an ethics committee environment

Fulfill your patients' wishes in their last moments, respecting and understanding their religious beliefs"