IAHPC Traveling Scholarship
Ana Milena Sanchez, MD
Fellow in pediatric hematology and oncology
Colombia

The V Congreso Latinoamericano de Cuidados Paliativos in Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 2010) was an amazing learning experience for me. I am a physician from Colombia currently in my second year of a fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology. As a fellow, I face the challenges of treating children with life-threatening diseases. It was very helpful for me to learn from world experts in palliative care strategies how I can decrease the suffering of patients and their families.

I was fortunate to be able to listen and interact in the conferences and small group lectures with experts in the field. The scientific content of the meeting was excellent and I really enjoyed reading the posters and abstracts produced by many health care providers in Latin America.

I attended the pre-meeting workshops on symptom management, leadership and program development in palliative care. I found them to be very informative as the presenters shared their experiences, challenges and achievements while trying to develop their own programs. They provided me with the tools needed to be able to contribute to the development of a pediatric palliative care program at the institution where I currently work.

Through my interactions with pediatricians and pediatric oncologists at the meeting, I had the opportunity to learn about various programs in Latin America. Many of these pediatric programs are a model to follow, especially those that integrate palliative care in the services to pediatric oncology patients (e.g., in Chile and Guatemala). In these programs the palliative care providers are part of the oncology team and work in conjunction with them to decrease suffering of children and families who are going through difficult times.

I also had an opportunity to collect data for a research project that involves compiling pediatric palliative care resources in Latin-America. We surveyed the meeting participants (physicians, nurses and social workers) about their experiences. The survey included questions regarding services to children and barriers to providing palliative care. We are in the process of analyzing this data and hope to contribute to the knowledge base in the region.

Finally, I had an opportunity to participate in the pediatric commission of the Asociacion Lationamericana de Cuidados Paliativos (ALCP) that wishes to improve palliative care for children in the region. I was delighted to be able to meet such a group of enthusiastic health care providers (pediatricians, nurses, and others) who share similar interests. I hope to work with them again in the future.

In summary, the IAHPC Traveling Scholarship allowed me to attend the "V Congreso Latinoamericano de Cuidados Paliativos" which was a great learning experience for me. I gained new knowledge in palliative care, shared experiences with providers from all over Latin-America, worked on a research project and was able to participate in the pediatric commission of the ALCP.