Roberto Wenk is one of the pioneers of palliative care in Argentina and Latin America. He is a physician and lives in the city of San Nicolas, Argentina.
After earning a medical degree at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina and a diploma in anesthesiology from the Colegio de Médicos in Rosario, he went on to work as an anesthesiologist from 1974 until 1983. In 1983 he began to work in palliative care in addition to his work in anesthesiology. Since 2000 he has dedicated his work exclusively to palliative care.
In 1984 he created the Programa Argentino de Medicina Paliativa with a group of volunteers of the San Nicolas branch of the Argentinean League against Cancer (LALCEC); in 1994 this was affiliated with FEMEBA becoming the foundation of the Programa de Medicina Paliativa – Fundación FEMEBA.
Dr. Wenk is currently director of the Programa de Medicina Paliativa – Fundación FEMEBA (Medical Federation of the Province of Buenos Aires) in Buenos Aires. Since 1994, he has combined care of patients and families with graduate teaching in multiple formats (different combinations of theoretical online and bedside activities), and basic research in palliative care.
He retired from clinical practice at the end of 2014 and, after seven years teaching palliative care at the undergraduate level in two universities in Argentina, he assigned this task to other members of his team. He is currently working in the development and use of online clinical records for palliative care, and in improving synchronous and asynchronous virtual education (i.e., new and more functional models, better quality of exams, etc.).
Dr. Wenk has contributed extensively to palliative care at national, regional and international level. He is a founding member and past president of both the Argentinean Association for Palliative Medicine and Care (AAMyCP) and the Latin American Association for Palliative Care (ALCP). From 2005-2009 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (now the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance – WHPCA).
Dr. Wenk has a long association with the IAHPC and completed his second term as a member of the Board of Directors in 2014. He first joined the Board in 2007 and was elected Chair for the period 2008-2014. At that time he was a member of different working groups: Pallipedia, Opioid Price Watch and IAHPC Palliative Care Essentials (Essential Practices, Prescription Opioid Essential Package).
Currently he is in charge of functional design and content of Pallipedia, and member of both the IAHPC Palliative Care Certification Process and IAHPC first consults Global Palliative Care Database working groups.
His main hobby is building radio-controlled submarines and battle tanks. He has built (apart from the radio controls, power units and batteries) two 1:50 scale submarine models (TR-1700 and Los Angeles class), both of which have been involved in various naval modeling meetings and technical exhibitions. He is currently building a 1:13 scale model of the TAM (Tanque Argentino Mediano).