About 30 Medical Doctors participated in Madrid on the third edition of the Teachers Training Course in Palliative Care, organized by the Vianorte-Laguna Foundation in collaboration with the ATLANTES program of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra.

"The latest data obtained from scientific societies show the need to develop a specific training in this area: more than 130,000 patients demand each year this type of care. Therefore, it would be necessary to count with 1,500 specialized doctors," stated the Foundation Vianorte-Laguna.

The course which this year was awarded by the College of Doctors of Madrid with the Award for the Humanization of Health holds a European tradition of nearly 20 years and has had a great success teaching students from over 20 nationalities and 10 different countries.
This edition has counted with the presence of two international experts as speakers. Ruthmarijke Smeding, Director of this course, is a senior trainer at the University of Liverpool and at the Institute for Clinical Teaching of Palliative Care in Rotterdam. Meanwhile, Gustavo de Simone, President of the Argentina Association of Medicine and Palliative Care, is the coordinator of the Palliative Care program in Buenos Aires and Medical Director of Pallium, an international reference center.

Improve the experts' qualifications

The teaching staff was completed with Carlos Centeno, Principal Investigator of the ATLANTES program of the ICS, consultant in the Department of Palliative Medicine, University Clinic of Navarra, professor at the School of Medicine and Director of the working group " Palliative Care Development of Europe "of the European Society of Palliative Care (EAPC) and with Antonio Noguera Tejedor, Deputy Medical Director of the Care Center Laguna Hospital and professor of Palliative Medicine of the University of Madrid.

"All the participants taking part in this course have excellent professional careers, but they know that the competence skills can always be improved and, therefore, they work towards helping patients reinforce their existential aspects of life in order to move forward. Therefore, the aim of this course was to improve on communication and education skills in relation with the patients rather than the technical competences "said Dr. Simone.

Dr. Simone stated that, "Palliative care professionals should always be that calm companion who brings peace in the middle of a storm. They should give the patient serenity so their situation is better understood without getting angry at life or being isolated from their family or the rest of the world. Not only the doctor, but also nurses and volunteers must accompany the patient providing a humane gesture. "