Foundation Course in Palliative Medicine organised at Sri Guru Ram Das University of Health

Amritsar, 25 May (Punjab Post Bureau) – Sri Guru Ram Das University of Health Sciences hosted “Foundation Course in Palliative Medicine for Doctors and Nurses” jointly with WHO Collaborating Center for Community Participation in Palliative Care and Long-Term Care. Dr. Suresh Kumar Director WHO Collaborating Center for Community Participation in Palliative Care and Long Term Care & Technical Advisor, Institute of Palliative Medicine Inaugurated the conference as Chief Guest. Dr. Kulwant Singh Ded Vice Chancellor  Sri Guru Ram Das University of Health Sciences was the Guest of Honor.

              Palliative care pioneer Dr. Suresh Kumar said that Palliative care a relatively new subspecialty in medicine, focuses on improving the quality of life for patients and their families. Its ethos is based on the understanding that treating patients doesn’t mean just treating their disease; it means treating the patient as a whole and providing physical, psychosocial and spiritual support to alleviate pain and suffering. He said gaining a deeper understanding of what patients are experiencing through palliative care also plays an important role in clinical care.

            The institute was honored by the presence of renowned personality Dr. Anil Kumar Paleri, Clinical Director, Institute of Palliative Medicine and Mrs. Chandarlekha, CEO, Institute of Palliative Medicine who talked in details about the importance of Palliative Medicine in health care sciences.

              Dr. Kulwant Singh Ded Vice Chancellor said we will be treating patients suffering from cancer and terminally ill on daily basis. We have state of the art facilitates and trained staff. He said Palliative Care includes pain and symptom management, disease-modifying treatments, psychological, social, spiritual support and bereavement support. He added apart from cancer, it deals with diseases like HIV/AIDS, dementia, stroke and end stage renal diseases among others. He said the palliative care unit is the “intensive care unit for human suffering”. The same as we have intensive care units in every single hospital, I think the future will hopefully bring at least one palliative care unit to every single institution in Punjab. We hope that now it’s a matter of inspiring the leadership of the different medical institutions to take advantage. That, to me, is the big goal.”

          Dr. Manjit Singh Uppal Director Principal Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical, Amandeep Singh Deputy Registrar, Dr. Harjot Singh Organizing Secretary of this foundation course cum Assistant Professor Department of Community Medicine and other vital personalities were present conducting the proceeding.