Palliative Medicine

Program Description:

Palliative medicine students should know the symptoms of hard-to-treat diseases, be able to treat them appropriately, be completely familiar with psychological issues of these patients, and be able to assess and control them. Furthermore, palliative care specialists should be able to establish a close relationship with patients and their relatives, and train patients' relatives properly. The current curriculum includes competencies required in this field. Accordingly, graduates should play consultative, informative, educative (the patients and their families), therapeutic, interventional, and managerial (in the health system) roles. This document has been prepared based on credible scientific sources, opinions of specialists, experts, and officials in the health system, and includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to fulfill these responsibilities. 

Definition

Palliative medicine is a branch of medical science and is about palliative treatment of patients suffering from life-threatening complications and conditions in advanced and progressive diseases. In palliative medicine, the care focuses on enhancing the quality of life to the maximum possible extent, by controlling the disturbing signs and symptoms in a specialized manner and through spiritual, psychological and social supports. 

Objectives:

1-To  train specialist, competent and committed to apply their knowledge to enhance the support and care system for patients suffering from progressive and hard-to-treat diseases as well as for their relatives, in collaboration with other medical groups (specialists in other related disciplines, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, etc.).

2- To achieve conditions in which, patients suffering from progressive and hard-to-treat diseases and their relatives benefit from the best services possible and spiritual supports to relieve their physical and mental sufferings.

Expected Competencies at the End of the Program

General Competencies*

Specific Competencies and Skills

At the end of the program learners will be competent in the following skills:

Procedural Skills (diagnostic - therapeutic measures):

Pleural aspiration

Pericardial aspiration

Ascitic fluid paracentesis

Simple nerve blocks