Education and Training
Applications invited for the IAPC’s ‘Certificate Course in the Physiotherapy – Palliative Care interface’
Applications are invited for the fourth online batch of the IAPC’s ‘Certificate Course in the Physiotherapy – Palliative Care interface’, scheduled for Saturday, 2nd December, 2023.
The one-day certificate course aims to not only enhance a physiotherapists’ understanding of how they can contribute towards the rendering of holistic palliative care, but also strives to educate the palliative care community on how physiotherapy can augment their patient care and symptom management.
Physiotherapists (BPT and MPT), Doctors practising Palliative Medicine (MBBS / BDS), and Nurses practising Palliative Care (BSc Nursing, Diploma in Nursing, or GNM) are invited to register for the course.
The course will be conducted between 8:45 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, 2nd December, 2023, and will be delivered by expert faculty from AIIMS, New Delhi, and Cancer Institute, Chennai.
Please click here for further information and to register for the same. Please note that the last date to register for the course is Tuesday, 28th November, 2023.
Apply to participate in the IAPC’s ‘Certificate course in managing psychosocial issues of patients with chronic illnesses in Palliative Care settings’
The IAPC is inviting applications for the third online batch of the ‘Certificate course in managing psychosocial issues of patients with chronic illnesses in Palliative Care settings‘.
The content of the course is curated to facilitate participants understand the psychosocial and spiritual issues that impact the quality of life of patients with chronic illness and their families. The course also aims to further equip participants with the basic skills required to counsel and communicate with patients / caregivers in such situations.
Qualified Doctors (MBBS / BDS), Nurses (BSc Nursing / GNM), Counsellors and Psychologists (BSc / MSc in Psychology) and Social Workers (MSW) are invited to apply for this program.
The virtual course will be delivered over a week in December (3 hours over weekends; 2 hours over weekdays), between Sunday, 3rd December, and Saturday, 9th December, 2023 (both dates included).
The last date to apply for the course is 5 p.m. on Friday, 1st December, 2023. For further information or to register, please click here.
Applications invited for the ‘Compassionate Leadership Fellowship’
Applications are invited for the maiden batch of the ‘Compassionate Leadership Fellowship’ (CLF) in India, offered jointly by the Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust, Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Global Health Academy (University of Edinburgh), the Indian Association of Palliative Care, and the RMD Trust.
The year-long (February 2024 – 2025) advanced leadership program is designed to inspire, empower, influence, and transform future leaders in palliative care. The course intends to reshape how one perceives oneself and others leading to improved care delivery, enhanced team dynamics while also providing a strong focus on self-care and well-being.
Mid-level Health and social care professionals who are actively involved in palliative care, who are self-motivated with a desire to lead, and can commit towards course assignments and leadership activities are eligible to apply for the program offered in a hybrid model.
For this maiden cohort, there will be no course fees. Candidate’s accommodation will also be covered in Thiruvalla, Kerala. Candidates are however, expected to fund their travel and other possible local project costs.
Please click here to view the introduction letter with a call for applications and click here to access the fellowship brochure. The last date to apply for the course is Thursday, 7th December, 2023.
Please write to clfellowship.india@gmail.com in case of any queries.
Applications are invited for the ‘Fellowship in Palliative Care 2024’ offered jointly by IPM, SPCP, BSMMU and St Christopher’s Hospice
Applications are invited to participate in the ‘Fellowship in Palliative Care 2024’ offered jointly by the Institute of Palliative Medicine (IPM), India, the Sanjeevan Palliative Care Project (SPCP), Pondicherry, India, the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Bangladesh, and St Christopher’s Hospice, London, United Kingdom.
The program aims to address the global shortage of organisational and management skills in palliative care by offering high-quality education. The Fellowship focuses on creating a group of palliative care workers with an in-depth knowledge of core issues in organising palliative care at the grassroot level and also empowering them with recent advances and challenges in palliative care and community participation regionally, nationally, and globally.
The program follows adult learning principles and consists of ten full-day online sessions, assignments, group activities, and interactions with mentors over six months. Course participants will need to allocate an approx. 40 hours per month towards the course.
Clinical staff, program managers, coordinators, community volunteers, social workers, healthcare advocacy professionals or any healthcare professional wishing to explore palliative care are eligible to apply.
Please click here for further information on this.
Registrations open for an in-person ‘Pediatric Palliative Care Workshop’ on 9th and 10th December, 2023
Registrations are invited for a ‘Pediatric Palliative Care Workshop’ scheduled for Saturday, 9th December, 2023, and Sunday, 10th December, 2023, at the Dr MKC Nair Auditorium, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The 2-day in-person workshop is offered jointly by Pallium India, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, the Elizabeth Kubler Ross Foundation, and the Department of Pediatrics, SAT Hospital.
Paediatricians, Postgraduate students in peadiatrics, Palliative Care physicians (modern medicine) and Other Doctors and Nurses working with children (modern medicine) are eligible to apply for the course.
The course will cover sessions on pain management, other symptom management, communication skills, management of psychosocial issues, nursing issues in paediatric palliative care, grief and bereavement, Spirituality, end of life care etc. The sessions will be interactive with role pays and case discussions.
Please click here to register for the course and call +91 8589990160 in case of any queries.
80 Doctors sensitised about palliative care during the ‘Multi Speciality Physician’s Update’ meet at South Delhi, on 8th October, 2023
80 Doctors representing various specialities from across Delhi participated in the ‘Multi Speciality Physician’s Update’ meet which was held on Sunday, 8th October, 2023, at the Jupiter Hall, India Habitat Centre, South Delhi. The meet was organised by the Snehil-Sharda Memorial Trust.
During the meet, Dr Sunny Malik (Consultant in Charge, Department of Pain Management, Hospice Care and Palliative Medicine, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre, Delhi) presented a session on ‘Pain Management and Palliative Care: The Rising Pillar of Oncology’. The session aimed to sensitise the gathering about the rising and essential need for pain management, hospice care, and palliative medicine, and also advocated for its integration in care delivery to be able to provide comprehensive oncology treatment. The session also highlighted the importance of timely transition from disease-directed treatment to Hospice Care and urged one to focus on achieving better symptom control (physical, psychological, social, and spiritual).
The session was well received by the audience, who not only thanked the organisers for the session but also shared that it helped them to assimilate a lot of knowledge about pain management and especially palliative care.
The session concluded with Dr Malik extending his gratitude to Dr B B Gupta (Trustee, Snehil-Sharda Memorial Trust) and Dr Diwakar Gupta (The Medi Media People) for providing him with the opportunity to address the esteemed gathering.
29 individuals participate in the Sparsh Hospice and IAPC’s collaborative volunteer training program at Hyderabad on 28th and 29th October, 2023
The IAPC and Sparsh Hospice collaborated to deliver a two-day in-person volunteer training program at Sparsh Hospice, in Hyderabad, Telangana, on Saturday, 28th October, 2023, and Sunday, 29th October, 2023.
29 enthusiastic individuals from across Hyderabad participated in the regional training program. The 16-hour training program was designed to include a combination of lectures, role plays and case discussions. The course content was curated to suit the needs of a volunteer and empower them with an understanding of the concept of palliative care, management of pain and other symptoms, Home based care, End of life care, basic nursing care, etc.
Course participants will now proceed towards a 16-hour practical training component of the course, at Sparsh Hospice, to cement the concepts learnt during the in-person theory sessions.
The sessions were presented by expert regional faculty from Hyderabad. The IAPC extends its gratitude to all faculty for sharing their time and expertise; and to also Ms Sita Kavalipurapu (Training in-charge & Faculty, Sparsh Hospice) and Dr Ganpathy K V (Volunteer program coordinator, IAPC) for their support and coordination towards making the program a success.
The IAPC’s West Bengal Chapter conducted a CME on ‘NeuroPalliative Care’ on 29th September, 2023
An interesting Continuing Medical Education (CME) session on ‘Neuropalliative Care’ was conducted on Friday, 29th September, 2023, at the Auditorium of AMRI Hospital, Dhakuria, Kolkata, West Bengal.
The CME aimed to sensitise the audience towards the need for neuropalliative care services by presenting them with different perspectives of neuropalliative care. Dr Kaushik Datta (Consultant Neurologist, AMRI Dhakurai) presented the neurologists perspective with his session on ‘Neuropalliative Care: Perspectives of a Neurologist’. Dr Indranil Gosh (Consultant Palliative Care, AMRI, MKP) provided a palliative care physicians perspective with his presentation on ‘SABI – Clinical prognostication and outcomes’.
Dr Koushik Dutta (Consultant, Neurologist, AMRI Dhakuri) graced the occasion as a Special Guest Speaker and highlighted the role and benefits of providing palliative Care for those suffering from chronic neurological conditions.
The formal part of the CME concluded with several caregivers sharing the caregivers perspectives of receiving neuropalliative care services for their loved ones.
The social workers present also emphasized the need for volunteers to be trained in the basics of Neuropalliative Care as they often encounter such patients during their home and community visits. The event concluded with a rich discussion between the speakers and the audience.
Ms Krishna Dutta, a representative of ‘Hitaishini’, a Breast Cancer Survivor Group, also reiterated the need for quality Neuropalliative Care eservices as she shared her own personal experiences from receiving such care.
The enlightening CME was attended by 25 healthcare professionals from Eastern India Palliative Care, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, and AMRI Hospital. The audience was a mix of neuro-anaesthetists, palliative care physicians, social workers, nurses, DNB trainees, and volunteers. Dr Prakhar Gyanesh (Consultant NeuroAnesthetist, AMRI) was the organising chair for the event.
Session on Palliative care included in the ‘2nd Oswal Cancer Conclave’ at Ludhiana, Punjab
The ‘2nd Oswal Cancer Conclave’ was held at the Vidya Sagar Oswal Auditorium, Mohandai Oswal Hospital, in Ludhiana, Punjab, on Saturday, 23rd September, 2023.
The one day in-person conclave was attended by 100 doctors from across North India, including post graduate residents from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Christian Medical College, and Mohandai Oswal Hospital.
Dr Navish David Singh (Consultant, Department of Palliative Care, Mohandai Oswal Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab) was a part of a panel discussion on ‘Metastatic Urinary Bladder Cancer’ which provided him with the opportunity to sensitise the audience by addressing topics such as ‘When should palliative care teams be involved?’, ‘How to address common notions such as providing palliative care equates to the treating team giving up on a patients?’, ‘How can early integration of palliative care improve the health-related Quality of Life of patients and their caregivers?’, ‘How can palliative care improve the overall patient’s / family’s experience and satisfaction levels in metastatic and non-metastatic cancers?’ etc. The panel was represented by (shown alphabetically) Dr Ishu Sharma (Senior Radiation Oncologist), Dr Nitish Garg (Consultant, Medical Oncologist), Dr Ravneet Kaur (Senior Consultant, Histopathology), Dr Suryaveer Singh (Consultant, Onco radiodiagnosis) and Dr Tejpal Singh Gill (Senior Consultant, Onco-Urologist).
The panel discussion also allowed for the audience to clarify their queries related to palliative care and its integration in care delivery.
This panel discussion was ably moderated by Dr Ashwin Philip (Associate Professor and Head of the Department, Medical Oncology, Chrisitan Medical College; Senior Consultant, Mohandai Oswal Hospital) who was also the organizing secretary of the event.
Update from APM’s lecture series
Report on activities in October
3 lectures were delivered as a part of the ‘Academy of Palliative Medicine’s online Lecture Series 1’ in October, 2023. The current series will deliver a total of 37 lectures which will be delivered by Students of MD and DNB in Palliative Medicine from across the country and moderated by a Faculty from their respective center.
The sessions for October began with a superb presentation on ‘Rehydration in palliative and terminal care: Yes/No and Why?’, presented by Dr Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay and moderated by Dr Gayatri Palat. A riveting presentation on ‘Palliative care in India: Current progress and future needs‘, was presented next by Dr Sanjeev Kumar and moderated by Dr Sushma Bhatnagar. Sessions for the month concluded with an interesting presentation on ‘Inequity of Palliative Care for Non-Cancer Patients‘, presented by Dr Aakash Hinduja and moderated by Dr Praneeth Suvvari.
There were no lectures presented on 2nd October (Gandhi Jayanthi) and 23rd October (Dussehra), 2023.
We thank our speakers and the moderators for sharing their time and expertise to enrich the knowledge of the palliative care’s community.
Sessions planned for October
We invite you to join us for the lectures scheduled for November. Details below:
