10 day foundation course conducted in Goa
“Our approach to the patients has changed after attending this training. Through this training, we got answers to many of our dilemmas to further help patients.” (Dr. Ajay, IMA Ponda Trust Vice President and a busy senior clinician)
“Every MS or MD should undergo this training to know what should be the future of their practice.” (Dr. Govind, ENT Consultant, North Goa District Hospital).
“My whole attitude towards my patients is going to change after attending this training.” (Nurse Lisma, South Goa District Hospital)
“This course opened our eyes to other aspects of medical care, like psycho-social and spiritual care. Earlier we were only looking at the treatment and curative aspect. I would be sharing this knowledge with others and also putting into practice myself.” (Dr. Shefalee, Junior Resident, Goa Medical College).
These were some of the responses to a 10 day foundation course in palliative care in Goa conducted jointly by IMA Ponda, Dilasa Palliative Care and Pallium India.
Dr. Vallabh Dhaimodkar, Secretary IMA Ponda Trust, has been instrumental in making this collaboration a reality. This should be a great preparation for a promising palliative care activity in Goa!
The senior doctors from IMA Ponda Trust and other institutes in Goa showed commitment to learning like young post-graduate students, doing double shifts – attending training the whole day and then attending to the patients at their clinics in the evening. The younger doctors, nurses and volunteers shared the sincerity and compassion of the seniors. Their entire focus was on learning and improving their patient care. It was one of the best onsite trainings where along with classroom sessions, we had numerous patient discussions, home visits, visits to the old age homes and visits to two big government hospitals – Goa Medical College and Hospicio South Goa District Hospital.
The availability of best possible faculty – Dr.Rukmini Lobo, Dr.Priya Kulkarni (Pune), Dr.Vidya Viswanath (Vishakhapatnam), Ms Stella (IPM, Calicut), Dr.Sheetal Raj (Mangalore) and Ms Sophia (Pharmacy faculty, Mangalore) made learning so pleasurable.
For the first time we had a pharmacist faculty, Sophia, who enriched the sessions with her intricate knowledge of medicines. Ayana was the cherry on the cake. With her soft demeanour and in depth knowledge of palliative care training, she won everyone’s heart! And we were all strung together for ten days by the love and warmth of the organisers which completely floored all of us…making it a real memorable experience!
I heard about this from Dr Sitakant Ghanekar. Have given four talks in Goa on End of Life Care and Living Will for lay persons. Heard your workshop was brilliant. Thank you for bringing the movement to Goa. Long way to go, but awareness at all levels helps.