Personalised Medicine for healthcare professionals

If you work in the public healthcare system, you play an important role in order for patients to really take advantage of the opportunities of personalised medicine. The area is a political priority, and extensive research is being undertaken, but the implementation of the knowledge acquired depends on you and your colleagues.  

Applying research-based insights to a large extent depends on the healthcare personnel found in hospital corridors and in consultations rooms. So far, there haven’t been many opportunities to acquire competencies in personal medicine, but this year the University of Copenhagen opens its doors to a brand new Master in personal medicine – and at Atrium, you can now sign up for a course on the subject.

But what exactly is personal medicine, what measures have been taken, and what can you actually do to stay up-to-date? Read on and get a quick overview.       

Tailor-made treatment based on genetics

Personalised medicine includes prevention, diagnostics and treatment tailored to the individual patient. A tailor-made treatment takes into account the special biological conditions of the individual. This is done primarily through genetic information supplemented with additional health data such as diagnostic imaging, citizen-generated data and patient-reported data. The goal is to provide better treatment and thus a better quality of life and survival for the patient.

The Danish strategy for personalised medicine

A national strategy for personalised medicine has existed in Denmark since 2016. The strategy, which the government at that time and Danish Regions were behind, included 100 million DKK for co-financing the work with personalised medicine. A key driver for the strategy is the National Genome Center, which – as an independent organisation under the Ministry of Health – builds a nationwide infrastructure for personal medicine, including an infrastructure for mapping the genetic genome (genome sequencing) and for use of genetic information for patient treatment and research.

Ready to benefit patients

Research is quite different from everyday tasks with patients. So, how is the potential realised, who is responsible for what, and what about ethical considerations and data protection? There are still far more questions than answers, but the guidelines are in place and opportunities for continued education in the field are now available.

Among other things, the University of Copenhagen in collaboration with Aalborg University, Aarhus University, the University of Southern Denmark and the Denmark’ Technical University, University established a Master’s degree in personalised medicine. For those of you who want to familiarise yourself with the area, but not aiming for a master’s degree, you can sign up for an online course on personalised medicine at Atrium.

In collaboration with international experts

Atrium’s online course consists of seven modules, accessible whenever it suits you. Together the modules give you basic knowledge about personalised medicine from the most important angles. The content has been developed by Danish experts, who by virtue of their own work with genetic research, have access to international spearheads in personalised medicine. Thus, the online course gives you the essence of what the leading international experts know in the field of personalised medicine – without you having to be a researcher to understand it.

As a part of the course, you also have access to Q&A sessions, where you can ask questions directly to the experts behind the course. Read more about Introduction to personalised medicine.