HYDERABAD, India, Nov. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop an educational partnership with Apollo Hospitals Group, the largest hospital chain in India, to introduce a program that will help train radiation technologists in the country. The MoU was signed by Dr. K. Prabakar, chief executive officer of Apollo Knowledge, and Ashok Kakkar, Varian's India managing director, in Hyderabad.

In the first radiotherapy partnership of its kind between industry and a care provider in India, Varian intends to deploy its Access to Care program by leveraging the existing Apollo Knowledge network that comprises of several educational entities in the healthcare space in India. Access to Care is an educational program that seeks to bridge the gap between the growing need for modern radiotherapy treatment machines in developing countries and the lack of trained personnel to operate them.

"The world is seeing an alarming increase in the cancer burden and it is important that the healthcare industry stakeholders join hands to ensure that we have the required number of skilled clinicians," said Dr. Prabakar. "I am convinced that this collaboration is the right step forward in this direction, bearing in mind the respective strengths of Apollo and Varian."
"This program will not only enhance the skills and competencies of the students but contribute towards addressing the lack of skilled radiotherapy professionals in India," said Ashok Kakkar. "By working closely with Apollo's highly-effective educational arm, Apollo Knowledge, we believe we can start to make a significant difference in this area."

The program aims to provide skilled training for radiation therapists and medical physicists. Students will be trained using web-based content from international universities and advanced simulation tools that reproduce a complete radiotherapy center clinical workflow. Training emphasises the acquisition of skills to enhance the employability of the student as well as the quality and safety of radiotherapy treatments.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo group, said, "It's important that skilled medical professionals find their way into primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare across the length and breadth of the country. Apollo Knowledge is glad to collaborate with Varian to facilitate training of radiotherapy professionals as a step towards offering timely yet advanced care to cancer patients in India."

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