IAPC’s Foundation Course in Palliative Care for Volunteers

Developing compassionate Volunteers

The IAPC’s Volunteer training program recognises the important role of a volunteer in a multi-disciplinary team and their significant impact in the provisioning of palliative care services across the country.

Keeping its tradition of building capacity through continuous education in the different domains of palliative care, IAPC is now formalizing a structured course for prospective volunteers who want to make a positive difference to palliative patients and their caregivers, in as much to their lives as well. The end goal is to therefore move towards creating a compassionate community. 

The course will be offered twice a year by IAPC.

Each batch will be delivered in two components: a virtual and theoretical ‘Part A’, and an in-person practical ‘Part B’. Candidates will need to complete both the components to become eligible to receive the course completion certificate.

Please note: Palliative Care institutions who wish to organise their own local training programs (either online or offline) in partnership with the IAPC, are requested to connect with us at assistant.nio.iapc@gmail.com for further guidance and steps.

Course Objective

Equip and empower ‘compassionate volunteers’ with the relevant knowledge and inter personal skills.

The course will therefore place strong emphasis on communication skills, counselling skills, various Psycho-social issues and it’s management, that a volunteer will be faced with.

Eligibility Criteria

This course is primarily designed for individuals who can commit, who have the time and are willing to offer their services in palliative care facilities. 

Preference will be given to those individuals with social work background and good networking and communication skills.

Course Design

Part A:

  • 16 hour online theory classes
  • The virtual course will be delivered over 6 days (2 hours each during the weekdays and 4 hours over the weekend) in May, 2025
  • Course dates: 8th – 10th May, 2025 (Thursday to Saturday) and 15th – 17th May, 2025 (Thursday to Saturday) 
  • Click here to refer to the course curriculum
  • Each batch will have a maximum of 30 candidates

Part B:

  • A 1 month observer ship (a total of 16 hours) after completing the Part A of course
  • This component needs to be completed by Friday, 31st July, 2025
  • This component can be done in any recognised palliative care center of your choice. IAPC will issue a recommendation letter certifying the completion of a participant’s 16 hour course

Course Fee

  • Rs 500/- for the 16 hour online theory classes, Part A  
  • The course fee includes training fee, the soft copy of the training material and an e certificate upon successful completion of the course (Both Part A and Part B)

Course Registration

  • Please click here to submit the e-application form
  • Please ensure that you hit the ‘Submit’ button at the end of the e-application page to record your submission
  • The last date to submit applications: Monday, 5th May, 2025

Important Guidelines

  • Attendance is mandatory (with video) for all ‘Part A’ theory sessions. Those who fail to switch on their camera will be marked absent for the session
  • Certificate will be issued only to candidates who have been present and participated actively in all the theory sessions
  • Please note that recordings from the sessions will not be shared due to copyright issues. Please ensure that you attend the live sessions
  • Candidates with only 100% attendance in all sessions will be eligible to receive completion certificates
  • Please ensure that you have an uninterrupted and good internet connectivity. Candidates unable to attend sessions due to connectivity issues will be considered as absent.
  • Sessions will be interactive and candidates must therefore dedicate time exclusively to attend the sessions
  • Candidates are requested to attend the sessions using their laptops. Please avoid attending the sessions using phones or tablets, as it will cause distraction
  • Candidates are requested to login 10 minutes before the start of the session

Download the Course Curicullum

Click here for the e-application

For downloading on smartphones, please tap and hold your finger on the ‘Download’ button above. This will open up a menu. Tap ‘Download link’ from that menu.

Course Brochure: