Travel date: April 11, 2016
Name of Meeting/Event/Activity: Education in Palliative and End of Life Care (EPEC) 2016 Pediatrics - Train the Tranier Conference
Origin: Kuala Lumpour, Malaysia / Destination: Auckland, New Zealand
EPEC-P trainer course trains me to be an EPEC-P trainer, highlighting effective ways of adult learning and teaching methods.
I can use this training to improve my teaching of palliative care in my country. I do teaching for medical students, nurses and other post graduate trainees in palliative care.
Perhaps IAHPC could make the travelling scholarship known at all related paeds pall care education conferences/courses so that those wanting to get the education/opportunity will consider, knowing that there is an possibility of a travel scholarship. This is especially so for us from developing countries. Perhaps also only at conferences/courses if the fees is over a certain limit that IAHPC can stipulate so that you don\'t get people applying when they know they can\'t get a full scholarship.
Training to teach Paediatric Palliative Care. Paediatric palliative care in Malaysia is in its infancy, trying to ‘crawl’ and hoping to ‘stand’ very soon. In 2012, Malaysia received a visit from HRH Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton who delivered her first overseas speech at Hospis Malaysia, and spoke of the importance of delivering the best possible palliative care to children. The Malaysian Health Minister launched the National Paediatric Palliative Care Initiative at the same occasion. Paediatricians have taken the lead to introduce palliative care in the country. We formed Malaysian Paediatric Palliative Care reference group (MyPPC) and aim to facilitate the development of clinical services, education and research in paediatric palliative care. We actively reached out to our fellow paediatricians and other allied health care professionals to increase awareness and we ran educational workshops in several hospitals at various states. It is hoped that all who care for children with palliative care needs will ultimately have some understanding of this area of medical care. The prevalence of children who have palliative care needs has been reported to 32/10000 children. Based on the 2010 Malaysian census of 7.8 million below the age of 15years, there would about 25000 children who have palliative care needs. This large estimate reminds us of the urgency of ensuring that all Malaysian children who need palliative care can access it. All heath care and allied health professionals should have the attitude, knowledge and skill to provide palliative care to all children with life-limiting illnesses in their care. For our patients to receive good care, we not only need to know what is good care but how to teach others to provide it too. EPEC-Pediatrics (Education in Palliative and End of Life Care for Pediatrics) is a comprehensive curriculum designed to address the needs of children and their families and paediatric clinicians. EPEC-Pediatrics train the trainer courses, held in North America started in 2012, and is unfortunately too costly for us in developing countries. When EPEC-Pediatrics Trainer course in Auckland was announced, it was to be the first time the course was to be held in the Asia Pacific region. The team at Starship Children’s Hospital was instrumental in bringing EPEC-Pediatrics to Auckland. It was an opportunity to attend at a slightly reduced cost. I am grateful to IAHPC for providing me with a travel scholarship to assist me in most of the expenses for this learning opportunity. Prior to the course, there were 18 online modules to complete. We, then attended the 2-day face-to-face course in Auckland, facilitated by 6 EPEC-Pediatrics master facilitators. There were 54 participants, from New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Thailand, Singapore and 3 of us from Malaysia. It was an opportunity to reconnect with my previous teachers, colleagues and friends. I was also amongst like-minded colleagues. Paediatric palliative care providers are a relatively small network of people and during the 2 days, I realise we are not alone in the work we do and the challenges we face. This EPEC-Pediatrics Trainer course highlighted that effective education should be able to stimulate thoughts, challenge misconceptions and attitudes and result in behavioural change of those whom we teach. It was an opportunity to learn about ‘hooks’ for effective presentations, to increase my understanding on adult learning styles and how to use these skills when preparing for a teaching session. The emphasis throughout the course was on addressing attitudes that may hinder behavioural change that will not benefit patients, creating an environment for knowledge sharing and to ensure skills acquired were demonstrated during the teaching sessions. This course has helped me be more mindful of the quality of my teaching and to constantly have clear learning objectives. The impact of teaching can be far reaching if done right. The session on quality improvement also reminded me of the need to continue to assess the quality of care delivered to our patients and families. Perhaps if some of us can attend the EPEC-Pediatrics personal development workshops next year, there will be more master facilitators from this region of the world. This can make EPEC-Pediatric trainers courses more affordable to providers in this region especially the developing nations. It will help address the education needs for quality paediatric palliative care in this region.