2019; Volume 20, No 12, December
News
Loyalty Award Winner Brings Legal Experience to Palliative Care
“I have found my place in the world,” says Dr. María Susana Ciruzzi, recipient of the 2019 IAHPC Loyalty Award, which confers one year’s free membership and a $2,000 USD Traveling Scholarship. “Working in palliative care has made me a better person.”
Dr. Ciruzzi’s place in the working world is currently Head of Administrative Legal Affairs and member of the Bioethics Committee, Working Group on HIV-AIDS, at National Pediatrics Hospital in Buenos Aires, Agentina. She is also part of a working group on the care of chronic patients in the ICU, as well as a member of the hospital’s Committee of Dysphoria and Intersex Children.
Dr. María Susana Ciruzzi with Diké, a stray named for the Greek goddess of justice, photographed by her husband, a dog trainer and photographer. Photo by Mariano Rabuffetti. Used with permission.
She is a prolific author; professor of criminal law, bioethics and health law; member of several national and international scientific associations — including organizations devoted to bioethics, clinical research, and forensic sciences, as well as those upholding children’s rights, fighting cancer, furthering humanitarian causes — and has been the recipient of a number of awards in the past 27 years.
Working in palliative care for more than a decade has been deeply fulfilling. “It has made me feel that I can be very useful for people in vulnerable situations, protecting their rights, choices, and decisions,” says Dr. Ciruzzi, “and I can help the health team override their legal fears when making end-of-life decisions.”
As an IAHPC member since 2014, she attests that “it has helped me in so many ways: meeting extraordinary people, learning from their experience, and understanding that we are not alone in trying to restore humanity to health care.”
Dr. Ciruzzi has been happily married “to my one and only love” for 22 years, and enjoys an extended family that includes 10 godsons and goddaughters.
Members’ Recognition Award Winner Repeats Her Feat
Dr. Elizabeth Namukwaya. Used with permission.
For the second year in a row, Dr. Elizabeth Namukwaya of Kampala, Uganda, has won the IAHPC Members’ Recognition Award honoring the person who recruits the most new members in a year. By bringing in 10 new members, she will receive a year’s free membership plus a $2,000 USD Traveling Scholarship to the educational event of her choice.
Dr. Namukwaya, a palliative care physician, is clinical head of the Makerere-Mulago Palliative Care Unit within the Makerere School of Medicine, as well as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Medicine at Makerere University. She is responsible for the palliative care training of undergraduate and post-graduate students, and integrating palliative care within the Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Dr. Namukwaya is an enthusiastic IAHPC member and avid learner. Early in her palliative care career, she received an IAHPC Traveling Scholarship to an EAPC conference in 2011, and attended the 2019 EAPC conference in Berlin thanks to last year’s award.
“There are several challenges facing the palliative care services in our country, but when I attended the 2019 EAPC my hope was replenished,” she says.
The first conference she attended “opened my eyes,” and motivated her to pursue research, which led to completing her PhD four years after the conference. Dr. Namukwaya credits IAHPC with being “central to improving my knowledge, helped me train students, and make evidence-based clinical decisions.”
Not surprisingly, describing the benefits of Traveling Scholarships has been one reason why Dr. Namukwaya’s peers sign on as new members.
Reminder: Last chance to apply for IAHPC grant
to the 2020 ALCP Congress in Costa Rica
The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care will provide Traveling Scholarships to support the travel of palliative care workers to attend the 10th Latin American Congress of Palliative Care in San Jose, Costa Rica, from March 25-28, 2020. The deadline to apply is December 15, 2019. Results will be announced in early January.
Visit the IAHPC website for detailed information about the application process or to fill out an application form. If you have any questions about how to apply for a Traveling Scholarship, please contact Genevieve Napier, IAHPC Programs Officer at [email protected].
Fundraising campaign: Feel good all year supporting the IAHPC
This month IAHPC will be having an online donation campaign to fund our programs and initiatives that help reduce serious health-related suffering in vastly underserved regions. But fundraising is intended as a year-round effort, to help generate a massive wave of generosity.
This is how your donation to IAHPC eases suffering: It funds access to educational resources for palliative care professionals, workers, and informal caregivers that result in better patient care. Specifically:
- $35 gives 2 people online library access to peer-reviewed journals that describe evidence-supported palliative care practices; $50 gives access to 3 people
- $150 supports content development for an online module that can educate thousands of members
- $250 supports palliative care workshop costs for 1 participant
- $500 supports 1 scholarship grantee to travel to an educational event
IAHPC Seeks App Reviewers
IAHPC is seeking volunteers to review apps relevant to palliative care. The reviews will appear in the monthly Newsletter.
A review would describe the app and assess its usefulness, alerting readers to the way it can help in the practice of palliative care, or a particular field within palliative care. Each review would also identify the type of individual, professional, caregiver, or other persons who would benefit the most.
If this interests you, please contact Newsletter editor Alison Ramsey.
Each month, we publish items that may be of interest to our global readership. Contributions are welcomed.
- Content should describe opportunities to advance palliative care and improve knowledge, skills, and networking, e.g., education and training, travel grants, access to online resources, etc.
- 150 words maximum.
- Copy deadline: 20th of each month.
- Please submit your copy to the editor together with any JPEG images. We reserve the right to edit content.
Please also consider promoting your education and training events in the IAHPC Global Directory of Education in Palliative Care. It’s quick and easy — just submit your content online
What’s New in the IAHPC Calendar of Events
The following events were added last month to the IAHPC Calendar of Events.
India
- 35th Annual National Conference of the Indian Society for Study of Pain, February 7-9, 2020, in Ahmedabad.
- 58th Annual Conference of the Indian Association of Physiotherapists, March 6-8, 2020, in Chennai.
Netherlands
- 22nd Edition of the Advanced European Bioethics Course, “Suffering, Death and Palliative Care.” March 24-27, 2020, in Nijmegen.
UK
- The Palliative Care Congress 2020, March 19-20, 2020 in Telford, England.
United States
- Mayo Clinic Pain Management and Palliative Care 2020 (course). March 1-6, 2020, in Half Moon Bay, California.
Find the workshop, seminar, congress, or conference that speaks to you in the IAHPC Calendar of Events, updated monthly, that lists activities of special interest to those who work in palliative care. Or submit an event for consideration; it’s free!
