Oration   Publication   Educational Courses

We believe that continuous education and training constitute an important facet of our activities because it is vital to bring quality health services closer to the cancer patient. To this effect we are attempting to enhance the existing standards in both the public and private health system.

We conduct training programmes on early detection and palliative care, specially for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff from the government health delivery system, the most comprehensive network in the interior, rural areas and available to weakest sections of society. If there is capability enhancement of the governmental medical and para-medical personnel, quality medical service will be within the reach of the poorest of poor in the remotest corners of the region. The major and minor surgical procedures that the Foundation doctors perform at the district hospitals in cooperation with the respective district administrations also serve to demonstrate the surgical oncology procedures to the local doctors.

In India…
The last few years have been especially active and the Foundation has successfully conducted the 1st & 2nd Certificate Courses on the Management of Cancer Centers in December 2011 & December 2012, the 3rd National Seminar on the ‘Management of Cancer Centers in February 2014, the ‘7th Biennial Conference’ of the Indian Association of Hyperthermia Oncology and Medicine, Indore, India in February 2012, a two day palliative care training for nurses, Surgical Pathology Update, Cancer Awareness programmes in Indore & Mhow for prospective volunteers and the Role of Nutrition in Cancer.On 13th June 2015, a One Day-Oncology Nursing Programme was organised.

In 2010 & 2011, cancer awareness lecture sessions were included in 13 training programmes conducted by the Kshetriya Grameen Vikas Kendra for Panchayat members; 124 Sarpanch, 35 Up-sarpanch, 95 Panch and 140 Janpad members participated in these 13 programmes.

In 2010, over a 4 month period, we conducted cancer awareness programmes in 25 schools, which were attended by approximately 15,000 senior students.

So far, the largest and most ambitious training programme undertaken by us was the AusAID supported pilot project for developing a district based Palliative Care model. The decision to take up this project was based on the findings of our WHO funded survey on incidence of pain in rural areas. The survey had revealed a need to offer palliative care facilities closer to the home of the terminally ill cancer patient. The AusAID project was implemented in the district of Dhar, a predominantly tribal area of Madhya Pradesh, with active support of the Dhar District Administration. According to Dr. Robert Twycross, a well-known Palliative Care expert, this project has the potential for replication in the other districts of India.

Dr. Robert Twycross has held several bedside palliative care clinics in Indore.

Under the provisions of the 7th Indo-French Joint Commission in Scientific and Technical Cooperation, several Indo – French Workshops have been organized.

In 1996, we instituted the Prof. S.K. Mukherjee Oration as a tribute to the memory of Padmabhushan Prof. S.K. Mukherjee, who was a living legend in the field of medicine in central India. The orations given by international luminaries offer the local medical professionals an opportunity to interact with leading experts. So far, 5 Orations have been organized.

In April 1997, Ms. Gilly Burn, palliative care nurse from UK, and two of her associates, Ms. Dawn King & Ms. Hillary, participated in a one day palliative care training program for nurses. The programme, held at the Mission Hospital, Indore, the co-host, was attended by a large number of nurses from various hospitals in the city.

A team of our doctors took a series of lectures on various aspects of cancer care for the students of B.Sc. (Nursing), Choithram School of Nursing.

The nursing staff and students of the school of nursing attached to the Mission Hospital Indore receive our guidance in their regular classes every year for a period of one to two weeks. In addition, the trainee nurses get hands on experience in looking after cancer patients when they do their training stint at the Mission Hospital, where a lot of our operative work is done.

Certificate training programmes on early detection of cancer have been organized for general practitioners of Indore.

Four 3-day palliative care sensitization programmes have been held in Indore, Jaipur, Raipur and Bhopal; for government doctors from the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Ministry of Health, Government of India, under WHO Biennium Fund, funded these programmes . The feedback as well as the action plans prepared by the participants’ reveals a clearing up of misconceptions about cancer, its treatment, and an awareness that abysmal quality of life need not be the lot of terminally ill patients.

A Training program on cancer awareness was arranged for the workers including doctors of the Family Planning Association of India, Indore Branch. FNAC and Pap smear tests techniques were taught to the nursing staff.

Programmes have also been organised for the students of the School of Social Work, Indore, and the Choithram School.

A lot of awareness generation lectures have been held at schools, colleges, for women’s organizations and other forums. This is a continuous activity. In 2010, we decided to focus our school level awareness activity in the schools run by the administration. We went to 25 schools over a period 4 months and about 15 000 students attended these sessions.

… and abroad

So far 13 doctors, 1 clinical psychologist and 2 non-medical professionals have been sent to France, U.K. and U.S.A.

France

Most of the training in France has been organised under the provisions of 7th Indo-French Joint Commission in Scientific and Technical Cooperation and the following doctors from Indore have received training:

• Dr. NS Bhagwanani, Doctor and Administrator, at Institute Gustave Roussy, Villejuif.
• Dr. Jitendra Bharaniya, Histo-pathologist, at Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille
• Dr. Harikant Kalia, Physician, at Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille
• Dr. Avijit Maitra, Dentist, at Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille
• Mr. S.D. Mishra, Medical Physicist, at the Centre Antoine Lacassagne, Nice.
• Dr. Alok Modi, Medical Oncologist, at Centre Antoine Lacassagne, Nice
• Mr. Ajay Phatak, Bio-statistician, at Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille
• Dr. Govind Sharma, Surgeon, at Institute Gustave Roussy, Villejuif
• Late Dr. Shrikant Shastri, Radiotherapist, at Centre Antoine Lacassagne, Nice
• Dr. Shrikant Shivdekar, Surgeon, at Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif
• Dr. Ravi Soni, Anaesthesiologist, at Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille
• Dr. KG Vijayan, Anaesthesiologist, at Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille
• Dr. Deepak Agarwal, Cancer Surgeon, at Institute Curie, Paris

UK

• Dr. Sanjay Dixit, Radiotherapist
• Dr. Shrikant Shivdekar, Surgeon

USA

• Late Dr. Shrikant Shastri
• Dr. Vandana Jain
• Mrs. Suneeta Gupte