News
Welcome from Professor Ilora Finlay
Welcome
to the Palliative Care Education website at Cardiff University. Through Cardiff
University and the former University of Wales College of Medicine, we have
been delivering postgraduate education for palliative care clinicians since
1989 and our international programme continues to go from strength to strength.
Over the years the programme has attracted applicants from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, cultures and healthcare systems and our students have benefited enormously from this diversity.
I am delighted that you have expressed an interested in learning more about our programme and I hope that you will decide to apply for a place. There continue to be more applicants than places available, so I would encourage you to apply well in advance of the stated closing dates. We have collected together some of the most important information for potential and current students into the pages on this website and I hope you will find this helpful.
Palliative care is one of the most satisfying and challenging clinical areas to work in, not least because of the continuing ethical debate surrounding advances in end of life care. Our aim is to help you achieve your potential to become the clinical practitioner you want to be, to enhance the care provided by you and your colleagues for your patients. We do this by providing you with the latest clinical knowledge and best practice guidance, while instilling a reflective approach to your practice that better illuminates your understanding of the inter-disciplinary nature of effective palliative care.
The Bernard Moran Audit Prize
Dr
Conrad Lee, from Hong Kong, graduated with the Diploma in Palliative Medicine
in 2005, when he also won the Bernard Moran Audit Prize for his audit project.
Working with colleagues from Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong, he has
now published this work “Access to specialist palliative care for cancer
patients” in the latest edition of the European Journal of Palliative
Care (Volume 13 number 2).
How to Have a Good Death
On
30 March 2006 the television programme “How to Have a Good Death”
was broadcast on BBC Two.
Introduced by Esther Rantzen, this one-off documentary explored the world of palliative care in Britain's hospitals. The programme featured Dr Simon Noble, one of the tutors on our palliative care programme and Professor John Ellershaw, one of our external examiners.
The BBC has published a booklet “Planning for a Good Death”.
Commonwealth Distance-learning Scholarships
We
are delighted to announce that five Commonwealth Scholarships were awarded
in September 2006 to support registered medical practitioners, living and
working in India to study all three Phases of our Palliative Medicine programme.
The scholarships cover all study fees.and were generously awarded by
the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission (CSC). The 5 candidates commenced
the first Phase of the MSc in September 2006.
Successful residential teaching block in India
In
February 2007, the Palliative Medicine Education Team delivered its first
Residential Teaching Block in Bangalore, India for Commonwealth Commission
Scholars. Students attended from various regions of India and Pakistan. The
three-day session was led by Professor Ilora Finlay, Course Director, and
co-facilitated by Dr Nikki Pease, Course Tutor, and topics included Reflective
Practice, Audit, Communication Skills, Symptom Control and Ethics.
The teaching block was generously hosted by Dr Nagesh Simha at Karunashraya, Bangalore Hospice Trust, who also arranged for students to experience a ward round at the Hospice.
Collaboration with India
![Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] with Karunashraya, Bangalore Hospice Trust](images/signing.jpg)
Due
to the success of the Residential Teaching Block held in India and the enthusiasm
shown towards palliative medicine education, the Cardiff Palliative Medicine
Education Team has signed a Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] with Karunashraya,
Bangalore Hospice Trust.
The MOU will provide a means of providing a framework within which the parties will seek to develop a long-term collaborative relationship, with the sole purpose of facilitating the spread of knowledge of palliative medicine in India and neighbouring countries.
Dinner Presentation in Hong Kong
In
May 2007, the Cardiff University Palliative Medicine Department, together
with the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care [SPHC] and the Centre for
Behavioural Health [CBH] as collaborators for the Postgraduate Palliative
Medicine/Care courses, held a dinner presentation at the Hong Kong Jockey
Club.
Dr Simon Noble delivered a talk on Palliative Medicine Education, with a
view to guiding discussion on further collaboration with China to develop
a culturally relevant distance learning training program for multi-professionals,
with an emphasis on adult learning and reflective practice.
Bursaries for Indian Students
Three students from India have each been awarded a bursary to subsidise course fees for the 2007/08 academic year, courtesy of Dr Nagesh Simha, Karunashraya, Bangalore Hospice Trust.
For details of future financial awards available, please continue to visit our website for the latest update.
Cicely Saunders Medal
New
for 2007 was the introduction of the Cicely Saunders Medal. This award, sponsored
by Napp Pharmaceuticals, is awarded to the top Diploma student of the year.
Dame Cicely Saunders is universally acknowledged as the founder of the modern hospice movement, so this award carries with it a great deal of prestige.
The winner of the medal in 2007 was Dr Jo Brady.
Diploma qualification now has “quotable” status in Hong Kong
On 7 December
2005, the Medical Council of Hong Kong endorsed the recommendation of its
Education and Accreditation Committee to include Cardiff University’s
Diploma in Palliative Medicine in the List of Quotable qualifications approved
in Hong Kong.
Students who successfully complete both Phase I and Phase II of the programme, in order to graduate with the Diploma in Palliative Medicine, will in future be able to use the designated abbreviation “Dip. Pall. Med (Cardiff)” in their clinical practice, under the Medical Council’s regulations.
This complements the quotable MSc qualification in Palliative Medicine previously approved by the Medical Council.
Diploma Alumni Conference
We are pleased to announce the first Alumni Conference of the Diploma in Palliative Medicine. The event took place on 18th January 2008 at the Royal Society of Medicine, London. Alumni were given the opportunity to present the key points of what has been achieved since graduating from the course.
The programme included talks on prognosis (Dr Paddy Stone), the new resuscitation guidelines (Dr Claud Regnard), and ethics (Dr Rob George).
Showcasing MSc courses in Palliative Care/Medicine throughout the UK
Congratulations to Dr Margred Capel (Cardiff) and Dr Anna Hume (Southampton) who won 3rd prize at the Christmas MSs Meeting. This is an annual meeting organised by the Palliative Care Section of the RSM to showcase MSc courses in Palliative Care/Medicine throughout the UK.
Representatives of each MSc course were asked to give a 10 minute oral presentation on their MSc research project. Out of a total of 18 presentations, the judges (comprising of MSc course tutors and members of Palliative Care section of RSM) decided that a joint third prize should be awarded to the two Cardiff representatives each receiving £50 and a bottle of wine.
Multi-professional development of programmes
Work has progressed to make the Diploma and MSc multi-professional. Historically, only the Postgraduate Certificate in Palliative Care was open to all healthcare professionals. The proposal was scrutinised and considered at a School of Medicine Advisory Panel on 6th December 2007, and the development gained the approval of all panel members. From September 2008, the Diploma and MSc routes will therefore be available to nurses and pharmacists (in the first instance), leading to the award of Diploma/MSc in Palliative Care.