Jakarta, October 14th 2023. Prof. Dr. Dr. dr. Ikhwan Rinaldi, Sp.PD-KHOM, M.Epid, M.Pd.Ked, FACP, FINASIM., was inaugurated as a professor in the field of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine (FK) Universitas Indonesia (UI) in the FKUI IMERI Hall, UI Salemba Campus, this morning (Saturday, 14/10). At the inauguration ceremony, he delivered a speech entitled “Comprehensive Treatment of Cancer as an Effort to Improve the Quality of Cancer Services in Indonesia in the Context of Moving towards a Golden Indonesia 2045”.
In his speech, Prof. Ikhwan said that the incidence and death rate from cancer continues to increase globally, including in Indonesia. GLOBOCAN 2020 data estimated that there will be 19.3 million new cancer cases and almost 10 million deaths due to cancer in 2020. Various studies also show an increasing trend in early-onset cancer or cancer that occurs at <50 years of age. According to him, increasing life expectancy and various risk factors related to lifestyle transitions such as smoking and dietary patterns may contribute to this increase in cancer burden.
In treating cancer, there are various challenges ranging from prevention to palliation. Patients are often late in receiving examinations and only come for treatment at an advanced stage. “Insufficient education, low income, long distance to health services, use of complementary and alternative therapies, and low coverage of early cancer detection are major factors in delays of health services received by patients. Delays in cancer treatment not only impact the patient’s quality of life, but also the cost of health services,” said Prof. Ikhwan in the inauguration ceremony led by UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., and broadcasted live via the Universitas Indonesia YouTube channel and UI TV.
Meanwhile, if cancer is not treated comprehensively, Prof. Ikhwan said that cancer could be a threat to Indonesia, who will reach the peak of the demographic bonus in 2045, when Indonesia will be exactly 100 years old or known as Golden Indonesia 2045. Nearly one-third to one-half of cancer cases in Indonesia can be prevented if the public has a good understanding of cancer risk factors and development of cancer prevention interventions. In this regard, WHO recommends that each country have a national cancer control plan that focuses on equity and access and includes aspects of prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and care (aimed at improving the quality of life of patients and families when facing problems related to life threatening diseases). These recommendations can be implemented through comprehensive cancer centers.
Comprehensive cancer centers are the powerhouse of the national cancer control plan and are tasked with developing innovative approaches to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The primary mission of comprehensive cancer centers is to reduce the incidence of cancer and improve quality of life and survival rates. There are three main areas in cancer care, namely research, clinical care, and education.
In clinical care, cancer patients require multidisciplinary care to achieve optimal results. Multidisciplinary care requires the role of clinicians who are members of the oncology multidisciplinary team to participate directly in patient care. The oncology team will hold regular meetings which can be called tumor board meetings to discuss diagnostic and/or therapeutic options and the best treatment for each patient.
The formation of a multidisciplinary oncology team that can carry out its role well cannot be separated from interprofessional education which forms health professionals with expertise according to their field and able to collaborate with experts from other fields. Based on the Best Medical Education (BEME) review, faculty development, preparation of facilitators, reflection on student practice, and pedagogy play an important role in interprofessional learning.
Furthermore, integration between comprehensive cancer centers and primary care can improve the quality of cancer care. FK students who will later become general practitioners working in primary care and specialist residents in internal medicine as well as residents in other disciplines related to cancer services must be prepared with complete competence to face the challenges of the cancer burden in the future. In order to ensure that students have sufficient competency, adequate assessment instruments are needed. Entrustable professional activity or EPA is an instrument that can be used to assess student competency.
“Increasing the quality and quantity of education in the field of oncology through the implementation of EPA can produce graduates who are ready to implement preventive, promotive, survivorship and palliative efforts in the comprehensive treatment of cancer at various levels of service, including primary care. This is expected to answer WHO recommendations to strengthen cancer services in primary care,” said Prof. Ikhwan in his inauguration which was also attended by Professor of FK Sam Ratulangi University Prof. dr. Linda Wilhelma Ancella Rotty, Sp.PD-KEMD., Ph.D.
Prof. Ikhwan completed his medical education in 1998 and earned the title of Specialist in Internal Medicine in 2006 at FKUI. Then, he received the title of Consultant in Hematology, Medical Oncology, Jakarta in 2013 and graduated as a Doctor of Medical Sciences, FKUI in 2016. It didn’t stop there, still at the same campus, he continued his education by obtaining a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Faculty of Public Health (FKM) UI in 2018, Master of Medical Education FKUI in 2020, and Doctor of Clinical Epidemiology degree, FKM UI in 2023.
Until now, Prof. Ikhwan has published 77 scientific papers in national and international journals, including the titles Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, from Pathophysiology to Treatment-Free Remission: A Narrative Literature Review (2023); Identification and Validation of Entrustable Professional Activities in Indonesian Internal Medicine Residency Programs (2022); and Abdominal Tuberculosis Mimicking Ovarian Cancer: A Case Report and Review of the Literature (2022).
